{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_58426/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_58426","id":"gutenberg_58426","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58426","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Muhammad, Prophet, -632 -- Teachings","Religious life -- Islam"],"text":"Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Emmanuel Ackerman and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n THE\n\n SPEECHES & TABLE-TALK\n\n OF THE\n\n PROPHET MOHAMMAD\n\n _Chosen and Translated, with Introduction and Notes_,\n\n BY\n\n STANLEY LANE-POOLE\n\n _London_\n MACMILLAN AND CO.\n 1882\n\n\n_GOD! THERE IS NO GOD BUT HE, THE LIVING, THE STEADFAST! SLUMBER\nSEIZETH HIM NOT, NOR SLEEP. WHATSOEVER IS IN THE HEAVENS, AND\nWHATSOEVER IS IN THE EARTH, IS HIS. WHO IS THERE THAT SHALL PLEAD WITH\nHIM SAVE BY HIS LEAVE? HE KNOWETH WHAT WAS BEFORE THEM AND WHAT SHALL\nCOME AFTER THEM, AND THEY COMPASS NOT AUGHT OF HIS KNOWLEDGE, BUT WHAT\nHE WILLETH. HIS THRONE OVERSPREADETH THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, AND THE\nKEEPING OF BOTH IS NO BURDEN TO HIM: AND HE IS THE HIGH, THE GREAT!_\n\n THE THRONE VERSE, ii. 256.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nThe aim of this little volume is to present all that is most enduring\nand memorable in the public orations and private sayings of the\nprophet Mohammad in such a form that the general reader may be tempted\nto learn a little of what a great man was and of what made him\ngreat. At present, it must be allowed that although \u201cAuld Mahound\u201d\nis a household word, he is very little more than a word. Things are\nconstantly being said, written, and preached about the Arab prophet\nand the religion he taught, of which an elementary acquaintance with\nhim would show the absurdity. No one would dare to treat the ordinary\nclassics of European literature in this fashion; or, if he did, his\nexposure would immediately ensue. What I wish to do is to enable any\none, at the cost of the least possible exertion, to put himself into\na position to judge of popular fallacies about Mohammad and his\ncreed as surely and certainly as he can judge of errors in ordinary\neducation and scholarship. I do not wish to mention the Kor\u0101n by name\nmore than can be helped, for I have observed that the word has a\ndeterrent effect upon readers who like their literary food light and\neasy of digestion. It cannot, however, be disguised that a great deal\nof this book consists of the Kor\u0101n, and it may therefore be as well\nto explain away as far as possible the prejudice which the ill-fated\nname is apt to excite. It is not easy to say for how much of this\nprejudice the standard English translator is responsible. The patient\nand meritorious George Sale put the Kor\u0101n into tangled English and\nheavy quarto,--people read quartos then and did not call them _\u00e9ditions\nde luxe_,--his version then appeared in a clumsy octavo, with most\nundesirable type and paper; finally it has come out in a cheap edition,\nof which it need only be said that utility rather than taste has been\nconsulted. One can hardly blame any one for refusing to look even at\nthe outsides of these volumes. And the inside,--not the mere outward\ninside, if I may so say, the type and paper,--but the heart of hearts,\nthe matter itself, is by no means calculated to tempt a reluctant\nreader. The Kor\u0101n is there arranged according to the orthodox form,\ninstead of in chronological order,--it must be allowed that the\nchronological order was not discovered in Sale\u2019s time,--and the result\nis that impression of chaotic indefiniteness which impressed Carlyle\nso strongly, and which Carlyle has impressed upon most of the present\ngeneration. A large disorderly collection of prophetic rhapsody did not\nprove inviting, as the state of popular knowledge about Mohammad very\nclearly shows.\n\nThe attitude of the multitude towards Sale\u2019s Kor\u0101n was on the whole\nreasonable. But if the faults that were found there are shown to belong\nto Sale and not to the Kor\u0101n, or only partly to it, the attitude\nshould change. In the first place, the Kor\u0101n is not a large book, and\nin the second, it is by no means so disorderly and anarchic as is\ncommonly supposed. Reckoned by the number of verses, the Kor\u0101n is only\ntwo-thirds of the length of the New Testament, or, if the wearisome\nstories of the Jewish patriarchs which Mohammad told and retold are\nomitted, it is no more than the Gospels and Acts. It has been remarked\nthat the Sunday edition of the _New York Herald_ is three times as\nlong. But the real permanent contents of the Kor\u0101n may be taken at\nfar less even than this estimate. The book is full--I will not say\nof vain repetitions, for in teaching and preaching repetition is\nnecessary--but of reiterations of certain cardinal articles of faith,\nand certain standard demonstrations of these articles by the analogy of\nnature. Like the numerous stories borrowed by Mohammad from the Talmud,\nwhich have little but an antiquarian interest, many of these reiterated\narguments and illustrations may with advantage be passed over. There\nis also a considerable portion of the Kor\u0101n which is devoted to the\nexposure and confutation of those who, from political, commercial, or\nreligious motives, made it their business to thwart Mohammad in his\nefforts to reform his people. These personal, one might say party,\nspeeches are valuable only to the biographer and historian of the\ntimes. They throw but little light on the character of the man Mohammad\nhimself. They show him, indeed, to be--what we knew him before--a\nsensitive, irritable man, keenly alive to ridicule and scorn. But for\nthis purpose one instance is sufficient. We do not form our estimate\nof a great statesman from his moments of irritation, but from those\nlarger utterances which reveal the results of a life\u2019s study of men and\ngovernment. So with Mohammad, we may abandon the personal and temporary\nelement in the Kor\u0101n, and base our judgment upon those utterances\nwhich stand for all time, and deal not with individuals or classes,\nbut with man as he is, in Arabia or England, or where we will. This\nposition is not taken with the object of saving Mohammad from himself.\nHis attacks upon his opponents will bear comparison with those of\nother statesmen. They are doubtless couched in more barbaric language\nthan we are accustomed to, and where we insinuate, Mohammad curses\noutright. But in the face of a treacherous and malignant opposition,\nthe Arabian prophet comported himself with singular self-restraint. He\nonly threatened hell-fire, and people of all denominations are still\nthreatened with that every Sunday, to say nothing of Lent. Leaving out\nthe Jewish stories, needless repetitions, and temporary exhortations\nor personal vindications, the speeches of Mohammad may be set forth\nin very moderate compass. One speech--_sura_, or chapter, as it is\ngenerally called--follows another so much to the same effect, that a\nlimited number will be found to contain all the ideas which a minute\nstudy of the whole Kor\u0101n could collect. I believe there is nothing\nimportant, either in doctrine or style, which is not contained in the\ntwenty-eight speeches which fill the first hundred and thirty pages of\nthis small volume. If I were a Mohammadan, I think I could accept the\npresent collection as a sufficient representation of what the Kor\u0101n\nteaches.\n\nThe obscurity of the Kor\u0101n is largely due to its ordinary arrangement.\nThis consists merely in putting the longest chapters first and the\nshortest last. The Mohammadans appear to be contented with this curious\norder, which after all is not more remarkable than that of some other\nsacred books. German criticism, however, has discovered the method of\narranging the Kor\u0101n in approximately chronological sequence. To explain\nhow this is established would carry me too far, but the results are\ncertain. We can state positively that the chapters of the Kor\u0101n--or,\nas I prefer to call them, the speeches of Mohammad--fall into certain\ndefinite chronological groups, and if we cannot arrange each individual\nspeech in its precise place, we can at least tell to which group,\nextending over but few years, it belongs. The effect of this critical\narrangement is to throw a perfectly clear light on the development\nof Mohammad\u2019s teaching, and the changes in his style and method.\nWhen the Kor\u0101n is thus arranged--as it is in Mr. Rodwell\u2019s charming\nversion, which deserves to be better read than it is--the impression\nof anarchy disappears, and we see only the growth of a remarkable\nmind, the alternations of weakness and strength in a gifted soul, the\ninevitable inconsistencies of a great man. I do not believe any one who\nreads the speeches of Mohammad as I have arranged them in Professor\nN\u00f6ldeke\u2019s chronological order will say that they have no definite aim\nor coherence. They may be monotonous, and often they are rambling, but\ntheir intention and sequence of thought are to me clear as noonday.\n\nIt is something more, however, than any supposed length or obscurity\nthat has hitherto scared people from the Koran. The truth is that the\natmosphere of our Arabian prophet\u2019s thoughts is so different from what\nwe breathe ourselves, that it needs a certain effort to transplant\nourselves into it. That it can be done, and done triumphantly, may be\nproved by Mr. Browning\u2019s _Saul_, as Semitic a poem as ever came from\nthe desert itself. We see the whole life and character of the Bedawy in\nthese lines:--\n\n Oh, our manhood\u2019s prime vigour! No spirit feels waste,\n Not a muscle is stopped in its playing nor sinew unbraced.\n Oh, the wild joys of living! the leaping from rock unto rock,\n The strong rending of boughs from the fir-tree, the cool silver\n shock\n Of the plunge in the pool\u2019s living water, the hunt of the bear,\n And the sultriness showing the lion is couched in his lair.\n And the meal, the rich dates yellowed over with gold dust divine,\n And the locust flesh steeped in the pitcher, the deep draught of\n wine,\n And the sleep in the dried river-channel, where bulrushes tell\n That the water was wont to go warbling so softly and well.\n How good is man\u2019s life, the mere living! how fit to employ\n All the heart and the soul and the senses for ever in joy.\n\nIt is not easy to catch the Arab spirit as Mr. Browning has caught it.\nArab poetry is a sealed book to most, even among special Orientalists;\nthey construe it, but it does not move them. The cause is to be found\nin the abrupt transition of thought which is required if we would enter\ninto the spirit of desert song. The Arab stands in direct contrast to\nourselves of the north. He is not in the least like an Englishman. His\nmind travels by entirely different routes from ours, and his body is\nbuilt up of much more inflammable materials. His free desert air makes\nhim impatient of control in a degree which we can scarcely understand\nin an organised community. It is difficult now to conceive a nation\nwithout cabinets and secretaries of State and policemen, yet to the\nArab these things were not only unknown but inconceivable. He lived\nthe free aimless satisfied life of a child. He was supremely content\nwith the exquisite sense of simple existence, and was happy because\nhe lived. Throughout a life that was full of energy, of passion, of\nstrong endeavour after his ideal of desert perfectness, there was yet\na restful sense of satisfied enjoyment, a feeling that life was of a\nsurety well worth living. What his ideal was, and how different from\nany of the ideals of to-day, we know from his own poetry. It was, not\nin the gentler virtues that he prided himself:--\n\n Had I been a son of M\u0101zin, there had not plundered my herds\n the sons of the child of the dust, Dhuhl, son of Sheyb\u0101n.\n There had straightway arisen to help me a heavy-handed kin,\n good smiters when help is needed, though the feeble bend to the\n blow:\n Men who, when Evil bares before them his hindmost teeth,\n fly gaily to meet him in companies or alone.\n They ask not their brother, when he lays before them his wrong\n in his trouble, to give them proof of the truth of what he says.\n But as for my people, though their number be not small,\n they are good for naught against evil, however light it be;\n They requite with forgiveness the wrong of those that do them wrong,\n and the evil deeds of the evil they meet with kindness and love!\n As though thy Lord had created among the sons of men\n themselves alone to fear him, and never one man more.\n Would that I had in their stead a folk who, when they ride forth,\n strike swiftly and hard, on horse or on camel borne!\n\nThe ideal warrior, however, is not always so fierce as this, as may be\nseen in the following lament for a departed hero, where a gentler touch\nmingles in its warlike manliness:--\n\n But know ye if Abdallah be gone, and his place a void?\n no weakling, unsure of hand, and no holder-back was he!\n Alert, keen, his loins well girt, his leg to the middle bare,\n unblemished and clean of limb, a climber to all things high:\n No wailer before ill-luck, one mindful in all he did,\n to think how his work to-day would live in to-morrow\u2019s tale.\n Content to bear hunger\u2019s pain, though meat lay beneath his hand,\n to labour in ragged shirt that those whom he served might rest.\n If Dearth laid her hand on him, and Famine devoured his store,\n he gave but the gladlier what little to him they spared.\n He dealt as a youth with Youth, until, when his head grew hoar,\n and age gathered o\u2019er his brow, to Lightness he said--Begone!\n\nThe fierceness of the Arab warrior was tempered by those virtues in\nwhich more civilised nations are found wanting. If he was swift to\nstrike, the Arab was also prompt to succour, ready to give shelter\nand protection even to his worst enemy. The hospitality of the Arab\nis a proverb, but unlike many proverbs it is strictly true. The\nlast milch-camel must be killed rather than the duties of the host\nneglected. The chief of a clan--not necessarily the richest man in it,\nbut the strongest and wisest--set the example in all Arab virtues, and\nhis tent was so placed in the camp that it was the first the enemy\nwould attack, and also the first that the wayworn traveller would\napproach. Beacons were lighted hard by to guide wanderers to the\nhospitable haven, and any man, of whatever condition, who came to the\nArab nobleman\u2019s tent and said, \u201cI throw myself on your honour,\u201d was\nsafe from pursuit even at the cost of his host\u2019s life. Honour, like\nhospitality, meant more than it does now; and the Arab chieftain\u2019s\npledge of welcome meant protection, unswerving fidelity, help, and\nsuccour. Like his pride of birth, devotion to the clan, courage, and\ngenerosity, this hospitable trusty friendship of the Arab belongs no\ndoubt to the barbarous virtues of the old world; but it is just these\nparts of barbarism which civilisation might profitably emulate.\n\nAs a friend and as an enemy there was no ambiguity about the Arab. In\nboth relations he was frank, generous, and fearless. And the same may\nbe said of his love. The Arab of the Days of Ignorance, as Mohammadans\nstyle the time before the birth of their prophet, was the forerunner\nof the best side of medi\u00e6val chivalry, which indeed is forced to own\nan Arabian origin. The Arab chief was as much a knight-errant in love\nas he was a chivalrous opponent in fight. The position of the women\nof Arabia before the coming of Mohammad has often been commiserated.\nThat women were probably held in low esteem in the town-life which\nformed an important factor in the Arabian polity is probably true;\nsavage virtues are apt to disappear in the civilised society of cities.\nBut poetry is a good test of a nation\u2019s character,--not, perhaps, of\na highly civilised nation, for then affectation and the _vogue_ come\ninto play,--but undoubtedly of a partly savage nation, where poets only\nsay what they and their fellow men feel. Arabian poetry is full of a\nchivalrous reverence for women. Allowing for difference of language\nand the varieties of human nature, it is much more reverent than a\ngreat deal of the poetry of our own country to-day. In the old days,\nsays an ancient writer, the true Arab had but one love, and her he\nloved till death. The Bedawy or Arab of the desert, though he was not\nabove a certain amount of gallantry of a romantic and exciting order,\nregarded women as divinities to be worshipped, not as chattels to\npossess. The poems are full of instances of the courtly respect, \u201cfull\nof state and ancientry,\u201d displayed by the heroes of the desert towards\ndefenceless maidens, and the mere existence of so general an ideal of\nconduct in the poems is a strong argument for Arab chivalry; for with\nthe Arabs the abyss between the ideal accepted of the mind and the\nattaining thereof in action was narrower than it is among more advanced\nnations. We remember the story of Antar, the Bayard of pagan Arabia,\nwho gave his life to guard some helpless women; and recall these verses\nof Muweylik, which breathe a tender chivalrous regret for an only\nlove:--\n\n Take thou thy way by the grave wherein thy dear one lies--\n Umm el-\u00b4Al\u0101--and lift up thy voice: ah! if she could hear!\n How art thou come, for very fearful wast thou, to dwell\n in a land where not the most valiant goes but with quaking heart?\n God\u2019s love be thine and His mercy, O thou dear lost one!\n not meet for thee is the place of shadow and loneliness.\n And a little one hast thou left behind--God\u2019s ruth on her!\n she knows not what to bewail thee means, yet weeps for thee,\n For she misses those sweet ways of thine which thou hadst with her,\n and the long night wails, and we strive to hush her to sleep in\n vain.\n When her crying smites in the night upon my sleepless ears,\n straightway mine eyes brimful are filled from the well of tears.\n\nIf anywhere poetry is a gauge of national character, it was so in\nArabia, for nowhere was it more a part of the national life. That\nline, \u201cto think how his work to-day would live in to-morrow\u2019s tale,\u201d\nis a true touch. The Arabs were before all things a poetical people.\nIt is not easy to judge of this poetry in translation, even in the\nfine renderings which I have taken above from Mr. C. J. Lyall, but its\neffect on the Arabs themselves was unmistakeable. Damiri has a saying,\n\u201cWisdom hath alighted on three things, the brain of the Franks, the\nhands of the Chinese, and the tongue of the Arabs,\u201d and the last is\nnot the least true. They had an annual fair, the _Acad\u00e9mie fran\u00e7aise_\nof Arabia, where the poets of rival clans recited their masterpieces\nbefore immense audiences, and received the summary criticism of the\nmultitude. This fair of Okadh was a literary congress, without formal\njudges, but with unbounded influence. It was here that the polished\nheroes of the desert determined points of grammar and prosody; here\nthe seven \u201cGolden Songs\u201d were sung, although (alas for the legend!)\nthey were _not_ afterwards suspended in the Kaaba; and here \u201ca magical\nlanguage, the language of the Hijaz,\u201d was built out of the dialects of\nArabia and made ready to the skilful hand of Mohammad, that he might\nconquer the world with his Kor\u0101n.\n\nHitherto we have been looking at but one side of Arab life. The Bedawis\nwere indeed the bulk of the race and furnished the swords of the Muslim\nconquests; but there was also a vigorous town-life in Arabia, and the\ncitizens waxed rich with the gains of their trafficking. For through\nArabia ran the trade-route between east and west: it was the Arab\ntraders who carried the produce of the Yemen to the markets of Syria;\nand how ancient was their commerce one may divine from the words of a\npoet of Judaea, spoken more than a thousand years before the coming of\nMohammad--\n\n Wedan and Javan from San\u00b4a paid for thy produce:\n sword-blades, cassia, and calamus were in thy trafficking.\n Dedan was thy merchant in saddle-cloths for riding.\n Arabia and all the merchants of Kedar, they were the merchants of\n thy hand;\n in lambs and rams and goats, in these were they thy merchants.\n The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants;\n with the chief of all spices, and with every precious stone,\n and gold, they paid for thy produce.\n\n EZEKIEL xxvii. 19-22.\n\nMekka was the centre of this trading life, the typical Arab city of\nold times, a stirring little town, with its caravans bringing the\nsilks and woven stuffs of Syria and the far-famed damask, and carrying\naway the sweet-smelling produce of Arabia, frankincense, cinnamon,\nsandal-wood, aloe and myrrh, and the dates and leather and metals of\nthe south, and the goods that came to the Yemen from Africa and even\nIndia; its assemblies of merchant-princes in the Council Hall near the\nKaaba; and again its young poets running over with love and gallantry;\nits Greek and Persian slave-girls brightening the luxurious banquet\nwith their native songs, when as yet there was no Arab school of music\nand the monotonous but not unmelodious chant of the camel-driver was\nthe national song of Arabia; and its club, where busy men spent their\nidle hours in playing chess and draughts, or in gossiping with their\nacquaintance. It was a little republic of commerce, too much infected\nwith the luxuries and refinements of the states it traded with,\nyet retaining enough of the free Arab nature to redeem it from the\ncharge of effeminacy. Mekka was a home of music and poetry, and this\ncharacteristic lasted into Muslim times. There is a story of a certain\nstonemason who had a wonderful gift of singing. When he was at work\nthe young men used to come and importune him, and bring him gifts of\nmoney and food to induce him to sing. He would then make a stipulation\nthat they should first help him with his work. And forthwith they\nwould strip off their cloaks, and the stones would gather round him\nrapidly. Then he would mount a rock and sing, whilst the whole hill was\ncoloured red and yellow with the variegated garments of his audience.\nIt was, however, in this town-life that the worst qualities of the\nArab came out; it was here that his raging passion for dicing and his\nthirst for wine were most prominent. In the desert there was no great\nopportunity for indulging in either luxury, but in a town which often\nwelcomed a caravan bringing goods to the value of twenty thousand pound\nsuch excesses were to be looked for. Excited by the songs of the Greek\nslave-girls, and the fumes of mellow wine, the Mekkan would throw the\ndice till, like the German of Tacitus, he had staked and lost his own\nliberty.\n\nBut Mekka was more than a centre of trade and of song. It was the focus\nof the religion of the Arabs. Thither the tribes went up every year\nto kiss the black stone which had fallen from heaven in the primeval\ndays of Adam, and to make the seven circuits of the Kaaba, naked,--for\nthey would not approach God in the garments in which they had done\ntheir sins,--and to perform the other ceremonies of the pilgrimage. The\nKaaba, a cubical building in the centre of Mekka, was the most sacred\ntemple in all Arabia, and it gave its sanctity to all the district\naround. It was built, saith tradition, by Adam from a heavenly model,\nand then rebuilt from time to time by Seth and Abraham and Ishmael,\nand less reverend persons, and it contained the sacred things of the\nland. Here was the black stone, here the great god of red agate, and\nthe three hundred and sixty idols, one for each day of the year, which\nMohammad afterwards destroyed in one day. Here was Abraham\u2019s stone, and\nthat other which marked the tomb of Ishmael, and hard by was Zemzem,\nthe God-sent spring which gushed from the sand when the forefather of\nthe Arabs was perishing of thirst.\n\nThe religion of the ancient Arabs, little as we know of it, is\nespecially interesting inasmuch as the Arabs longest retained the\noriginal Semitic character, and hence probably the original Semitic\nreligion; and thus in the ancient cult of Arabia we may see the\nreligion once professed by Chaldeans, Canaanites, Israelites, and\nPh\u0153nicians. This ancient religion \u201crises little higher than animistic\npolydaemonism; it is a collection of tribal religions standing side\nby side, only loosely united, though there are traces of a once closer\nconnection.\u201d The great objects of worship were the sun, and the stars,\nand the three moon-goddesses,--El-L\u0101t, the bright moon, Men\u0101h, the\ndark, and El-\u00b4Uzza, the union of the two--whilst a lower cultus of\ntrees, stones, and mountains shows that the religion had not quite\nrisen above simple fetishism. There are traces of a belief in a supreme\nGod behind this pantheon, and the moon-goddesses and other divinities\nwere regarded as daughters of the Most High God (All\u0101h ta\u00b4\u0101la). The\nvarious deities (but not the supreme All\u0101h) had their fanes where\nhuman sacrifices, though rare, were not unknown; and their cult was\nsuperintended by a hereditary line of seers, who were held in great\nreverence, but never developed into a priestly caste.\n\nBesides the tribal gods, individual households had their special\n_penates_, to whom was due the first and the last sal\u0101m of the\nreturning or outgoing master. But in spite of all this superstitious\napparatus the Arabs were never a religious people. In the old days,\nas now, they were reckless, sceptical, materialistic. They had their\ngods and their divining arrows, but they were ready to demolish both\nif the responses proved contrary to their wishes. An Arab, who wished\nto avenge the death of his father, went to consult the square block\nof white stone called El-Khalasa, by means of divining arrows. Three\ntimes he tried, and each time he drew the arrow forbidding vengeance.\nThen he broke the arrows, and flung them in the face of the idol,\ncrying, \u201cWretch! if it had been _your_ father who was murdered, you\nwould not have forbidden me to avenge him!\u201d The great majority believed\nin no future life, nor in a reckoning day of good and evil. If a few\ntied camels to the graves of the dead that the corpse might ride\nmounted to the judgment-seat, they must have done so more by force of\nsuperstitious habit than anything else.\n\nChristianity and Judaism had made but small impress upon the Arabs.\nThere were Jewish tribes in the north, and there is evidence in\nthe Kor\u0101n and elsewhere that the traditions and rites of Judaism\nwere widely known in Arabia. But the creed was too narrow and too\nexclusively national to commend itself to the majority of the people.\nChristianity fared even worse. Whether or not St. Paul went there,\nit is at least certain that very little effect was produced by the\npreaching of Christianity in Arabia. We hear of Christians on the\nborders, and even two or three among the Mekkans, and bishops and\nchurches are spoken of at Dhaf\u0101r and Nejr\u0101n. But the Christianity that\nthe Arabs knew was, like the Judaism of the northern tribes, a very\nimperfect reflection of the faith it professed to be. It had become\na thing of the head instead of the heart, and the refinements of\nmonophysite and monothelite doctrines gained no hold on the Arab mind.\n\nThus Judaism and Christianity, though they were well known, and\nfurnished many of the ideas and most of the ceremonies of Isl\u0101m, were\nnever able to effect any general settlement in Arabia. The common Arabs\ndid not care much about any religion, and the finer spirits found\nthe wrangling dogmatism of the Christian and the narrow isolation of\nthe Jew little to their mind. For there were men before the time of\nMohammad who were dissatisfied with the low fetishism in which their\ncountrymen were plunged, and who protested emphatically against the\nidle and often cruel superstitions of the Arabs. Not to refer to\nthe prophets, who, as the Kor\u0101n relates, were sent in old times to\nthe tribes of Ad and Tham\u016bd to convert them, there was, immediately\nbefore the preaching of Mohammad, a general feeling that a change was\nat hand; a prophet was expected, and women were anxiously hoping for\nmale children, if so be they might mother the Apostle of God; and the\nmore thoughtful minds, tinged with traditions of Judaism, were seeking\nfor what they called the \u201creligion of Abraham.\u201d These men were called\n\u201cHan\u012bfs,\u201d or \u201cincliners,\u201d and their religion seems to have consisted\nchiefly in a negative position,--in denying the superstition of the\nArabs, and in only asserting the existence of one sole-ruling God whose\nabsolute slaves are all mankind--without being able to decide on any\nminor doctrines, or to determine in what manner this One God was to\nbe worshipped. So long as the Han\u012bfs could give their countrymen no\nmore definite creed than this, their influence was limited to a few\ninquiring and doubting minds. It was reserved for Mohammad to formulate\nthe faith of the Han\u012bfs in the dogmas of Isl\u0101m.\n\nIt is essential to bear in mind all these surroundings of Mohammad if\nwe would understand his position and influence. A desert Arab in love\nof liberty and worship of nature\u2019s beauty, but lacking something of\nthe frank chivalrous spirit of the desert warrior--more a saint than\na knight,--yet possessing a patient determined perseverance which\nbelonged to the life of the town, a moral force which the roaming\nBedawy did not need, Mohammad owed something to either side of Arabian\nlife; whilst without the influence of other religions, especially the\nJewish, he could never have come forward as the preacher of Isl\u0101m. Even\nthe old nature worship of the Arabs had its share in the new religion,\nand no faith was made up of more varied materials than that which\nMohammad impressed upon so large a portion of mankind.\n\nOf his early life very little is known. He was born in A.D. 571, and\ncame of the noble tribe of the Koreysh, who had long been guardians of\nthe sacred Kaaba. He lost both his parents early, and as his branch\nof the tribe had become poor, his duty was to betake himself to the\nhillsides and pasture the flocks of his neighbours. In after years he\nwould look back with pleasure on these days, and say that God took\nnever a prophet save from among the sheep-folds. The life on the hills\ngave him the true shepherd\u2019s eye for nature which is seen in every\nspeech of the Kor\u0101n; and it was in those solitary watches under the\nsilent sky, with none near to distract him, that he began those earnest\ncommunings with his soul which made him in the end the prophet of his\nnation. Beyond this shepherd life and his later and more adventurous\ntrade of camel-driver to the Syrian caravans of his rich cousin,\nKhad\u012bja, whom he presently married at the age of twenty-five, there\nis little that can be positively asserted of Mohammad\u2019s youth. He must\nhave witnessed the poets\u2019 contests at the Fair of \u00b4Okadh, and listened\nto the earnest talk of the Jews and Han\u012bfs who visited the markets;\nhe may have heard a little, dimly, of Jesus of Nazareth; what he did\nwe know not; what he was is expressed in the nickname by which he was\nknown--\u201cEl-Am\u012bn,\u201d the Trusty.\n\n\u201cMohammad was of the middle height, rather thin, but broad of\nshoulders, wide of chest, strong of bone and muscle. His head was\nmassive, strongly developed. Dark hair, slightly curled, flowed in\na dense mass almost to his shoulders; even in advanced age it was\nsprinkled with only about twenty gray hairs, produced by the agonies of\nhis \u2018Revelations.\u2019 His face was oval-shaped, slightly tawny of colour.\nFine long arched eyebrows were divided by a vein, which throbbed\nvisibly in moments of passion. Great black restless eyes shone out from\nunder long heavy eyelashes. His nose was large, slightly aquiline.\nHis teeth, upon which he bestowed great care, were well set, dazzling\nwhite. A full beard framed his manly face. His skin was clear and soft,\nhis complexion \u2018red and white,\u2019 his hands were as \u2018silk and satin,\u2019\neven as those of a woman. His step was quick and elastic, yet firm as\nthat of one who steps \u2018from a high to a low place.\u2019 In turning his face\nhe would also turn his whole body. His whole gait and presence were\ndignified and imposing. His countenance was mild and pensive. His laugh\nwas rarely more than a smile.\n\n\u201cIn his habits he was extremely simple, though he bestowed great care\non his person. His eating and drinking, his dress and his furniture\nretained, even when he had reached the fulness of power, their almost\nprimitive nature. The only luxuries he indulged in were, besides arms,\nwhich he highly prized, a pair of yellow boots, a present from the\nNegus of Abyssinia. Perfumes, however, he loved passionately, being\nmost sensitive to smells. Strong drink he abhorred.\n\n\u201cHis constitution was extremely delicate. He was nervously afraid of\nbodily pain; he would sob and roar under it. Eminently unpractical\nin all common things of life, he was gifted with mighty powers of\nimagination, elevation of mind, delicacy and refinement of feeling.\n\u2018He is more modest than a virgin behind her curtain,\u2019 it was said of\nhim. He was most indulgent to his inferiors, and would never allow\nhis awkward little page to be scolded whatever he did. \u2018Ten years,\u2019\nsaid Anas his servant, \u2018was I about the Prophet, and he never said\nas much as \u201cuff\u201d to me.\u2019 He was very affectionate towards his family.\nOne of his boys died on his breast in the smoky house of the nurse, a\nblacksmith\u2019s wife. He was very fond of children; he would stop them in\nthe streets and pat their little heads. He never struck any one in his\nlife. The worst expression he ever made use of in conversation was,\n\u2018What has come to him? may his forehead be darkened with mud!\u2019 When\nasked to curse some one, he replied, \u2018I have not been sent to curse,\nbut to be a mercy to mankind.\u2019 \u2018He visited the sick, followed any bier\nhe met, accepted the invitation of a slave to dinner, mended his own\nclothes, milked the goats, and waited upon himself,\u2019 relates summarily\nanother tradition. He never first withdrew his hand out of another\nman\u2019s palm, and turned not before the other had turned.\n\n\u201cHe was the most faithful protector of those he protected, the sweetest\nand most agreeable in conversation. Those who saw him were suddenly\nfilled with reverence; those who came near him loved him; they who\ndescribed him would say, \u2018I have never seen his like either before or\nafter.\u2019 He was of great taciturnity, but when he spoke it was with\nemphasis and deliberation, and no one could forget what he said. He\nwas, however, very nervous and restless withal; often low-spirited,\ndowncast, as to heart and eyes. Yet he would at times suddenly break\nthrough these broodings, become gay, talkative, jocular, chiefly among\nhis own. He would then delight in telling little stories, fairy tales,\nand the like. He would romp with the children and play with their toys.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe lived with his wives in a row of humble cottages, separated from\none another by palm-branches, cemented together with mud. He would\nkindle the fire, sweep the floor, and milk the goats himself. The\nlittle food he had was always shared with those who dropped in to\npartake of it. Indeed, outside the prophet\u2019s house was a bench or\ngallery, on which were always to be found a number of poor, who lived\nentirely upon his generosity, and were hence called \u2018the people of\nthe bench.\u2019 His ordinary food was dates and water, or barley bread;\nmilk and honey were luxuries of which he was fond, but which he rarely\nallowed himself. The fare of the desert seemed most congenial to him,\neven when he was sovereign of Arabia.\u201d\n\nMohammad was forty before he began his mission of reform. He may long\nhave doubted and questioned with himself, but at least outwardly he\nseems to have conformed to the popular religion. At length, as he was\nkeeping the sacred months, the God\u2019s Truce of the Arabs, in prayer and\nfasting on Mount Hir\u0101, \u201ca huge barren rock, torn by cleft and hollow\nravine, standing out solitary in the full white glare of the desert\nsun,\u201d he thought he heard a voice say \u201cCry.\u201d \u201cWhat shall I cry?\u201d he\nanswered. And the voice said:--\n\n \u201cCry! in the name of thy Lord, who created--\n Created man from blood.\n Cry! for thy Lord is the Bountifullest!\n Who taught the pen,\n Taught man what he did not know.\u201d\n\n _Kor\u0101n_, ch. xcvi.\n\nAt first he thought he was possessed with a devil, and the refuge of\nsuicide was often present to his mind. But yet again he heard the\nvoice--\u201cThou art the Messenger of God, and I am Gabriel.\u201d He went back\nto Khad\u012bja, worn out in body and mind. \u201cWrap me, wrap me,\u201d he cried.\nAnd then the word came to him:--\n\n \u201cO thou who art wrapped, rise up and warn!\n And thy Lord magnify,\n And thy raiment purify,\n And abomination shun!\n And grant not favours to gain increase!\n And wait for thy Lord!\u201d\n\n _Kor\u0101n_, ch. lxxiv.\n\nThese are the first two revelations that came to Mohammad. That he\nbelieved he heard them spoken by an angel from heaven is beyond doubt.\nHis temperament was nervous and excitable from a child up. It is said\nhe was subject to cataleptic fits, like Swedenborg; and at least it\nis certain that his constitution was more delicately and highly strung\nthan most men\u2019s. If it is any satisfaction to the incredulous to find\nevidence of a special tendency towards hallucinations, the proofs are\nat hand. But whether the \u201crevelations\u201d were subjective or not makes no\ndifference to the result. Whencesoever they came, they were real and\npotent revelations to the man and to his people.\n\nAfter this beginning of converse with the supernatural, or whatever we\nprefer to term it, the course of Mohammad\u2019s revelations--the speeches\nwhich make up the Kor\u0101n--flowed unbroken for twenty years and more.\nThey fall naturally into two great divisions--the period of struggle\nat Mekka, and the period of triumph at Medina; and the characteristics\nof the two are diverse as the circumstances which called them forth.\nFor whatever Mohammad himself thought of his revelations, to modern\ncriticism they are speeches or sermons strictly connected with the\nreligious and political circumstances of the speaker\u2019s time. In the\nfirst period we see a man possessed of a strong religious idea, an idea\ndominating his life, and his one aim is to impress that idea on his\npeople, the inhabitants of Mekka. He preached to them in season and out\nof season; whenever the spirit moved him he poured forth his burning\neloquence into the ears of a suspicious and incredulous audience. Three\nyears of unwearied effort produced the pitiful result of a score or so\nof converts, mainly from the poorest classes. In the fifth year even\nthese were compelled by the persecutions of the Koreysh to take refuge\nin Abyssinia--\u201ca land of righteousness, wherein no man is wronged.\u201d\nMohammad had by this time advanced from a mere inculcation of the\ndoctrine of one all-powerful God to a plain attack upon the idolatry of\nthe Mekkans; and the Koreysh, as guardians of the Kaaba and receivers\nof the pilgrims\u2019 tolls, were keenly alive to the consequences which\nthe overthrow of the sacred temple would entail upon its keepers. The\nresult of Mohammad\u2019s bold denunciations was a cruel persecution of his\nhumbler followers, and their consequent flight to Abyssinia; he himself\nwas too nearly allied to powerful chiefs to be lightly injured in a\nland where the blood-revenge held sway. Presently the devotion of the\nprophet, his manly bearing under obloquy and reproach, and above all,\nthe winged words of his eloquence, brought several men of influence and\nwealth into his faith, and in the sixth year of his mission Mohammad\nfound himself surrounded no longer by a crowd of slaves and beggars,\nbut by tried swordsmen, chiefs of great families, leaders in the\ncouncils of Mekka; and the new sect performed their rites no more in\nsecret, but publicly at the Kaaba, in the face of the whole city. The\nKoreysh resolved on stronger measures. After trying vainly to isolate\nhim from his family--the true Arab spirit of kindred was not so easily\nshaken--they put the whole clan under a ban, and swore they would not\nmarry with them, nor buy nor sell with them, nor hold with them any\nintercourse soever. To the credit of Mohammad and of his clan, only one\nman of them refused to share his fate, though most of them did not hold\nwith his doctrines. Sooner than give up their kinsman, they went, every\nman of them, save that one, into their own quarter of the city, and\nthere abode in banishment for two years. Starvation was busy with the\nincarcerated family, when the Koreysh grew ashamed of their work, and\nfive chiefs arose and put on their armour and went to the ravine where\nthe banished people were shut up, and bade them come forth.\n\nThe time of inaction was followed by a time of sorrow. Mohammad\nlost his wife and the aged chief, his uncle, who had hitherto been\nhis protector. All Mekka was against him, and in despair of heart\nhe journeyed to Taif, seventy miles away, and told his message to\nanother folk: but they stoned him for three miles from the town. The\ntime, however, was coming when a distant city would hold out welcoming\nhands to the prophet whom Mekka and Taif had rejected. As he dwelt-on\ndisconsolately at Mekka, pilgrims from Yethrib (soon to be known as\nMedina or Med\u012bnet-en-Neby, \u201cthe Prophet\u2019s City\u201d) hearkened to the new\ndoctrine, and carried it home to their own folk. Jews had prepared the\nway for Isl\u0101m at Medina; the new religion did not seem preposterous to\nthose who had long heard of One God; and presently the Faithful began\nto leave Mekka in small companies, and take refuge in the hospitable\ncity where their prophet was honoured. At length Mohammad, when like\nthe captain of a sinking ship he had seen his followers safely away,\naccompanied by one faithful friend eluded the vigilance of the Koreysh,\nand safely arrived at Medina in the early summer of 622. This is the\nHijra or \u201cFlight\u201d of Mohammad, from which the Muslims date their\nhistory.\n\nDuring these years of struggle and persecution at Mekka 90 out of\nthe 114 chapters or speeches which compose the Kor\u0101n were revealed,\namounting to about two-thirds of the whole book. All these speeches\nare inspired with but one great design, and are in strong contrast\nwith the complicated character of the later chapters issued at Medina.\nIn the Mekka chapters Mohammad appears in the unalloyed character of\na prophet: he has not yet assumed the functions of a statesman and\nlawgiver. His object is not to give men a code or a constitution, but\nto call them to the worship of the One God. There is hardly a word\nof other doctrines, scarcely anything of ritual, or social or penal\nregulations. Every speech is directed simply to the grand design of the\nProphet\u2019s life, to convince men of the unutterable majesty of the One\nGod, who brooks no rivals. Mohammad appeals to the people to credit the\nevidence of their own eyes; he calls to witness the wonders of nature,\nthe stars in their courses, the sun and the moon, the dawn cleaving\nasunder the dark veil of night, the life-giving rain, the fruits of the\nearth, life and death, change and decay--all are \u201csigns of God\u2019s power,\nif only ye would understand.\u201d Or he tells the people how it fared with\nolder generations, when prophets came to them and exhorted them to\nbelieve in One God and do righteousness, and they rejected them; how\nthere fell upon the unbelieving nation grievous woe. How was it with\nthe people of Noah? he asks:--they were drowned in the flood because\nthey would not hearken to his words. And the people of the Cities of\nthe Plain? And Pharaoh and his host? And the old tribes of the Arabs\nwho would not hear the warnings of their prophets? One answer follows\neach--there came upon them a great calamity. \u201cThese are the true\nstories,\u201d he cries, \u201cand there is only One God! and yet ye turn aside.\u201d\nEloquent appeals to the signs of nature, threats of a day of reckoning\nto come, warnings drawn from the legends of the prophets, arguments for\nthe truth and reality of the revelation, make up the substance of this\nfirst division of the Kor\u0101n.\n\nIn the earliest group of speeches delivered at Mekka, forty-eight in\nnumber, belonging to what is called the First Period, extending over\nthe first four years of Mohammad\u2019s mission, we feel the poetry of the\nman. Mohammad had not lived among the sheep-folds in vain, and spent\nlong solitary nights gazing at the silent heaven and watching the dawn\nbreak over the mountains. This earliest portion of the Kor\u0101n is one\nlong blazonry of nature\u2019s beauty. How can you believe in aught but the\nOne omnipotent God when you see this glorious world around you and this\nwondrous tent of heaven above you? is Mohammad\u2019s frequent question to\nhis countrymen. \u201cAll things in heaven and earth supplicate Him; then\nwhich of the bounties of your Lord will ye deny?\u201d There is little but\nthis appeal to nature in the first part of the speeches at Mekka. The\nprophet was in too exalted a state during these early years to stoop\nto argument; he rather seeks to dazzle the sense with brilliant images\nof God\u2019s workings in creation. \u201cVerily in the creation of the heavens\nand the earth are signs to you, if ye would understand.\u201d His sentences\nhave a rhythmical ring though they are not in true metre. The lines are\nvery short, yet with a musical cadence. The meaning is often but half\nexpressed. The poet seems impatiently to stop as if he despaired of\nexplaining himself: he has essayed a thing beyond words, has discovered\nthe impotence of language, and broken off with the sentence unfinished.\nThe style is throughout fiery and impassioned. The words are those of a\nman whose whole heart is bent on convincing, and they carry with them\neven now the impression of the burning vehemence with which they were\noriginally hurled forth. These earliest speeches are generally brief.\nThey are pitched too high to be long sustained. We feel we have here to\ndo with a poet as well as a preacher, and that his poetry costs him too\nmuch to be spun out.\n\nIn urging to repentance and faith, Mohammad\u2019s great weapon is the\njudgment to come--the day of retribution, when all mankind shall be\narraigned before the throne of God; and those who have done good shall\nbe given the book of the record of their actions in their right hand,\nand enjoy abiding happiness in gardens, under which the rivers flow;\nwhilst the wicked shall receive his damning record in his left hand,\nand be dragged by heel and hair to hell, to broil therein for ever. The\nday of judgment is a stern reality to Mohammad. It is never out of his\nthoughts, and he says himself that if men realised what that day was,\nthey would weep much and laugh little. He is never tired of depicting\nits terrors, and cannot find names enough to describe it. He calls it\nthe Hour, the Mighty Day, the great Calamity, the Inevitable Fact, the\nSmiting, the Overwhelming, the Hard Day, the Promised Day, the Day of\nDecision.\n\nThe high poetic fervour of the first group of Mekka speeches is to\nsome extent lost in the Second, and still more in the Third period,\ncorresponding to the fifth and sixth years, and from thence to the\nHijra, respectively, and each comprising twenty-one speeches. The\nchange is partly one of style, partly of matter. The verses and the\nspeeches themselves become longer and more rambling; the resonant oaths\nby all the wonders of nature are exchanged for the mild asseveration,\n\u201cBy the Kor\u0101n.\u201d There is more self-assertion and formality, and the\nspecial words of God are as it were italicised by the prefixed verb,\n\u201cSay.\u201d It must be remembered that the speeches of the Kor\u0101n are\nall supposed to be the utterances of God _in propri\u00e2 person\u00e2_, of\nwhom Mohammad is only the mouthpiece. The apparent vindications and\nlaudations of the prophet himself are explicable from this point of\nview; and the reader must never forget it when he is perplexed by the\n\u201cwe\u201d (God), and \u201cthou\u201d (Mohammad), and \u201cye\u201d (the audience), of the\nKor\u0101n. The most important alteration to be observed in the progress of\nthe orations at Mekka is the introduction of numerous stories derived,\nwith considerable corruptions, from the Jewish Haggadah. More than\nfifteen hundred verses, nearly a quarter of the Kur-\u0101n, are occupied\nwith wearisome repetitions of these legends. They are to be seen\nmethodically arranged in Lane\u2019s _Selections from the Kur-\u0101n_, and I\nneed only say that, with the exception of one or two typical examples\n(like the speech called _The Moon_, p. 41), and a few digressions in\nspeeches (like _The Children of Israel_, p. 57) that were too important\nto be omitted, these tales are excluded from the present collection.\nTheir only real interest is Mohammad\u2019s use of them as evidence of the\ncontinuity of revelation. He believed that all preceding prophets were\ninspired of God, and that they taught the same faith as himself. From\nAdam to Jesus they all brought their messages to their people, and were\nrejected. He makes them exhort their people in precisely similar words\nto those with which he exhorts the Koreysh. There is nothing new in his\nown doctrine, he says, it is but the teaching of Abraham, of Moses, of\nChrist, of all the prophets. But it is the last and best, the seal of\nprophecy, after which no other will be given before the Great Day. It\nsupersedes or confirms all that goes before.\n\nQuite half of the second group of Mekka speeches consists of these\nJewish legends. There are not so many in the third, and none in the\nfirst. But if the Third does not contain quite so many of these tedious\nfables, it is even tamer in style. Mohammad seems to be cataloguing the\nsigns of nature mechanically, and he is constantly recurring to the\ncharge of forgery which was often brought against him, or to the demand\nfor miracles, which he always frankly admitted he could not gratify. I\nam only a warner, he said; I cannot show you a sign--a miracle--except\nwhat ye see every day and night. Signs are with God: He who could make\nthe heavens could easily show you a sign if He pleased; beware, lest\none day ye see a sign indeed, and taste in hell that which ye called\na lie! That the old eloquence, in spite of repetition and wearing\ntrouble, was not dead, may be seen from the speech called _Thunder_ (p.\n104), where the nature painting is as fine as anywhere in the Kor\u0101n.\n\nThe first great division of Mohammad\u2019s speeches, then, is oratorical\nrather than dogmatic. He has a great dogma, indeed, and uses every\nresource to recommend it. But there is little detail in these ninety\nMekka speeches. Hardly any definite laws or precepts are to be found\nin them, and most of these in the speech entitled _The Children of\nIsrael_ (p. 57). Certain general rules of prayer are given, hospitality\nand thrift are commended in a breath, \u201cLet not thy hand be chained to\nthy neck, nor yet stretch it out right open;\u201d infanticide, inchastity,\nhomicide (save in blood-revenge), the robbing of orphans, a false\nbalance, usury, a broken covenant, and a proud stomach, are denounced;\ncertain foods are prohibited; and the whole duty of man is thus\nbriefly summed up:--\u201cSay: I am only a man like you: I am inspired that\nyour God is but One God. Then let him who hopeth to meet his Lord do\nrighteousness, and join no (idol) in his worship of God.\u201d\n\nThere is little here of a complicated ritual or a metaphysical\ntheology. Thus far the social and religious laws which we associate\nwith Isl\u0101m are not found in the Mohammadan Bible. We hear only the\nvoice crying in the wilderness, \u201cHear ye, people! The Lord your God is\none Lord.\u201d\n\nMohammad\u2019s position at Medina was totally different from that he\noccupied at Mekka. Instead of a struggling reformer, despised and\nridiculed by almost every man he met, he was a king, ruling a large\ncity with despotic power, and needing every resource of statecraft to\nmaintain order among its contentious elements. There was a large party,\nknown in the Kor\u0101n as the \u201cDisaffected\u201d or \u201cHypocrites,\u201d who found it\npolitic to profess Isl\u0101m, but were ready to avail themselves of any\npropitious occasion to overturn or injure it. Still more important\nwere the Jewish Arab tribes settled at Medina, who at first hoped to\nfind a tool to their hands in the new prophet, who seemed to teach\nsomething very like Judaism; but who, when they found him unmanageable,\nstraightway turned upon him with double malignity, and exerted\nthemselves in all treacherous ways to countermine his authority and\nhelp his enemies within and without the city. Mohammad has been blamed\nfor the severity with which he suppressed the rebellious parties in\nhis state, and the sentences of exile and death passed upon the Jews\nhave been regarded as proofs of a vindictive nature. An impartial study\nof the facts of the case, however, shows plainly that strong measures\nwere needed for the preservation of the Muslim religion and polity; and\nthe vigorous blows struck by Mohammad at rebellion in the beginning\nprobably saved bloodshed afterwards. Whilst the prophet\u2019s supremacy was\nbeing established and maintained among the mixed population of Medina,\na vigorous warfare was carried on outside with his old persecutors, the\nKoreysh. On the history of this war, consisting as it did mainly of\nsmall raids and attacks upon caravans, I need not dwell. Its leading\nfeatures were the two battles of Bedr and Ohud, in the first of which\nthree hundred Muslims, though outnumbered at the odds of three to one,\nwere completely victorious (A.D. 624, A.H. 2); whilst at Ohud, being\noutnumbered in the like proportion, and deserted by the \u201cDisaffected\u201d\nparty, they were almost as decisively defeated (A.H. 3). Two years\nlater the Koreysh gathered together their allies, advanced upon Medina,\nand besieged it for fifteen days; but the foresight of Mohammad in\ndigging a trench, and the enthusiasm of the Muslims in defending it,\nresisted all assaults, and the coming of the heavy storms for which\nthe climate of Medina is noted drove the enemy back to Mekka. The next\nyear (A.H. 6) a ten years\u2019 truce (see _The Victory_, p. 124, and notes)\nwas concluded with the Koreysh, in pursuance of which a strange scene\ntook place in the following spring. It was agreed that Mohammad and\nhis people should perform the Lesser Pilgrimage, and that the Koreysh\nshould for that purpose vacate Mekka for three days. Accordingly in\nMarch 629, about two thousand Muslims, with Mohammad at their head\non his famous camel, El-Kaswa,--the camel on which he had fled from\nMekka,--trooped down the valley and performed the rites which every\nMuslim to this day observes.\n\n\u201cIt was surely a strange sight which at this time presented itself\nin the vale of Mekka, a sight unique in the history of the world.\nThe ancient city is for three days evacuated by all its inhabitants,\nhigh and low, every house deserted; and as they retire, the exiled\nconverts, many years banished from their birthplace, approach in a\ngreat body, accompanied by their allies, revisit the empty homes of\ntheir childhood, and within the short allotted space fulfil the rites\nof pilgrimage. The ousted inhabitants, climbing the heights around,\ntake refuge under tents or other shelter among the hills and glens;\nand clustering on the overhanging peak of Abu-Kubeys, thence watch\nthe movements of the visitors beneath them, as with the Prophet at\ntheir head they make the circuit of the Kaaba and the rapid procession\nbetween Es-Saf\u0101 and Marwah; and anxiously scan every figure if\nperchance they may recognise among the worshippers some long lost\nfriend or relative. It was a scene rendered possible only by the throes\nwhich gave birth to Isl\u0101m.\u201d When the three days were over, Mohammad\nand his party peaceably returned to Medina, and the Mekkans re-entered\ntheir homes. But this pilgrimage, and the self-restraint of the Muslims\ntherein, advanced the cause of Isl\u0101m among its enemies. Converts\nincreased daily, and some leading men of the Koreysh went over to\nMohammad. The clans around were sending-in deputations of homage. But\nthe final keystone was set in the 8th year of the flight (A.D. 630),\nwhen a body of Koreysh broke the truce by attacking an ally of the\nMuslims, and Mohammad forthwith marched upon Mekka with ten thousand\nmen, and the city, despairing of defence, surrendered. The day of\nMohammad\u2019s greatest triumph over his enemies was also the day of his\ngrandest victory over himself. He freely forgave the Koreysh all the\nyears of sorrow and cruel scorn in which they had afflicted him, and\ngave an amnesty to the whole population of Mekka. Four criminals whom\njustice condemned made up Mohammad\u2019s proscription list when he entered\nas a conqueror to the city of his bitterest enemies. The army followed\nhis example, and entered quietly and peaceably; no house was robbed,\nno women insulted. One thing alone suffered destruction. Going to the\nKaaba, Mohammad stood before each of the three hundred and sixty idols,\nand pointed to it with his staff, saying, \u201cTruth is come, and falsehood\nis fled away!\u201d and at these words his attendants hewed them down,\nand all the idols and household gods of Mekka and round about were\ndestroyed.\n\nIt was thus that Mohammad entered again his native city. Through all\nthe annals of conquest there is no triumphant entry comparable to this\none.\n\nThe taking of Mekka was soon followed by the adhesion of all Arabia.\nEvery reader knows the story of the spread of Isl\u0101m. The tribes of\nevery part of the peninsula sent embassies to do homage to the prophet.\nArabia was not enough: Mohammad had written in his bold uncompromising\nway to the great kings of the East--to the Persian Chosroes and the\nGreek Emperor; and these little knew how soon his invitation to the\nfaith would be repeated, and how quickly Isl\u0101m would be knocking at\ntheir doors with no faltering hand.\n\nThe prophet\u2019s career was near its end. In the tenth year of the\nflight, twenty-three years after he had first felt the spirit move him\nto preach to his people, he resolved once more to leave his adopted\ncity and go to Mekka to perform a farewell pilgrimage. And when the\nrites were done in the valley of Min\u0101, the prophet spake unto the\nmultitude--the forty thousand pilgrims--with solemn last words:\n\n Ye people, hearken to my words: for I know not whether after this\n year I shall ever be amongst you here again.\n\n Your lives and your property are sacred and inviolable amongst\n one another until the end of time.\n\n The Lord hath ordained to every man the share of his inheritance;\n a testament is not lawful to the prejudice of heirs.\n\n The child belongeth to the parent, and the violater of wedlock\n shall be stoned.\n\n Ye people, ye have rights demandable of your wives, and they have\n rights demandable of you. Treat your women well.\n\n And your slaves, see that ye feed them with such food as ye eat\n yourselves, and clothe them with the stuff ye wear. And if they\n commit a fault which ye are not willing to forgive, then sell\n them, for they are the servants of the Lord and are not to be\n tormented.\n\n Ye people! hearken unto my speech and comprehend it. Know that\n every Muslim is the brother of every other Muslim. All of you are\n on the same equality: ye are one brotherhood.\n\nThen looking up to heaven he cried, \u201cO Lord, I have delivered my\nmessage and fulfilled my mission.\u201d And all the multitude answered,\n\u201cYea, verily hast thou!\u201d--\u201cO Lord, I beseech thee, bear Thou witness\nto it!\u201d and, like Moses, he lifted up his hands and blessed the people.\nThree months more and Mohammad was dead,--A.H. 11, A.D. 632.\n\nAnd when it was noised abroad that the prophet was dead, Omar, the\nfiery-hearted, the Simon Peter of Isl\u0101m, rushed among the people and\nfiercely told them they lied; it could not be true. And Abu-Bekr came\nand said, \u201cYe people! he that hath worshipped Mohammad, let him know\nthat Mohammad is dead; but he that hath worshipped God, that the Lord\nliveth and doth not die.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe altered circumstances of Mohammad\u2019s life at Medina produced\na corresponding change in his speeches. They are now not so much\nexhortations to unbelievers as directions and encouragements to the\nfaithful; and instead of being one complete oration, as most of the\nearly speeches are, they are a collection of isolated \u201crulings\u201d on\nvarious points of conduct. The prophet\u2019s house at Medina became a court\nof appeal for the whole body of Muslims. They came to him with all\ntheir difficulties,--domestic, social, political, religious,--and asked\nfor direction. Then Mohammad said in few words what he thought right\nand just; and these decisions have been treated as laws binding upon\nthe Mohammadan world for all time. It is fortunate that Mohammad was a\nman of sound common sense, or the law of Isl\u0101m would be a preposterous\nmedley. As it is, it seems clear that the prophet never wished to lay\ndown a code of law, and, instead of volunteering rules of conduct and\nritual, used to wait to have them extorted from him by questioning.\n\u201cGod wishes to make things easy for you,\u201d he says, \u201cfor man was created\nweak.\u201d He seems to have distrusted himself as a lawgiver, for there\nis a tradition which relates a speech of his in which he cautions the\npeople against taking his decision on worldly affairs as infallible.\nWhen he speaks of the things of God he is to be obeyed; but when he\ndeals with human affairs he is only a man like those about him. He was\ncontented to leave the ordinary Arab customs in force except when they\nwere manifestly unjust. The truth is that, as in the Mekka speeches\nso in those of Medina, the legal and dogmatic element is curiously\nsmall. The greater part of those long chapters uttered in fragments at\nMedina, and then pieced together haphazard by the prophet\u2019s amanuenses,\nconsists of diatribes against the Jews and hypocrites, reflections\non the conduct of the allies in battle, encouragement after defeat,\nexhortations as to the future, besides a great deal of personal\nmatter--regulations of the prophet\u2019s harem, vindications of his own\nor his wives\u2019 conduct,--and similar things of a temporary and local\ninterest. Though the style is monotonous and longwinded, like the third\nMekka period, there are still flashes of the old eloquence, though\nperhaps it is less spontaneous than of old, such as we hear in the\nchapter of _Light_--\n\n God is the light of the heavens and the earth; his light is as a\n niche in which is a lamp, and the lamp in a glass; the glass is\n as it were a glittering star: it is lit from a blessed tree, an\n olive neither of the east nor of the west, the oil thereof would\n well-nigh shine though no fire touched it--light upon light--God\n guideth to His light whom He pleaseth.\n In the houses God hath suffered to be raised, for His name to be\n commemorated therein, men magnify Him at morn and eve:\n Men whom neither merchandise nor trafficking divert from\n remembering God and being instant in prayer and giving alms,\n fearing a day when hearts and eyes shall quiver;\n That God may recompense them for the best that they have wrought,\n and give them increase of His grace; for God maketh provision for\n whom He pleaseth without count.\n But those who disbelieve are like a vapour in a plain: the thirsty\n thinketh it water, till, when he cometh to it, he findeth\n nothing; but he findeth God with him; and He will settle his\n account, for God is quick at reckoning:--\n Or like black night on a deep sea, which wave above wave doth\n cover, and cloud over wave, gloom upon gloom,--when one putteth\n out his hand he can scarcely see it; for to whom God giveth not\n light, he hath no light.\n Hast thou not seen that what is in the heavens and the earth\n magnifieth God, and the birds on the wing? each one knoweth its\n prayer and its praise, and God knoweth what they do:\n God\u2019s is the empire of the heavens and the earth, and to Him must\n all things return!\n Hast thou not seen that God driveth the clouds, and then joineth\n them, and then heapeth them up, and thou mayest see the rain\n coming forth from their midst; and He sendeth down from the\n heaven mountain-clouds with hail therein, and He maketh it\n fall on whom He pleaseth, and He turneth it away from whom He\n pleaseth: the flashing of His lightning well nigh consumeth the\n eyes!\n\n xxiv. 35-43.\n\nThe actual legal residue in the Medina chapters is singularly small.\nChapters ii., iv., and v., contain nearly all the law of the Kor\u0101n; but\nit must be allowed they are very long chapters, and form nearly a tenth\npart of it. Their practical import,--the definite ruling of Mohammad\non dogmatic, ritual, civil, and criminal matters,--is collected in pp.\n133-144, and need not be repeated here. The conclusion, however, is\nworth pointing clearly. The Kor\u0101n does not contain, even in outline,\nthe elaborate ritual and complicated law which now passes under the\nname of Isl\u0101m. It contains merely those decisions which happened to be\ncalled for at Medina. Mohammad himself knew that it did not provide for\nevery emergency, and recommended a principle of analogical deduction to\nguide his followers when they were in doubt. This analogical deduction\nhas been the ruin of Isl\u0101m. Commentators and jurists have set their\nnimble wits to work to extract from the Kor\u0101n legal decisions which an\nordinary mind could never discover there; and the whole structure of\nmodern Mohammadanism has been built upon this foundation of sand. The\nKor\u0101n is not responsible for it.\n\nThere is, however, another source of information about Mohammad\u2019s\nteaching and practice which is largely responsible for the present\nform of the once simple creed of Mekka. Besides the public speeches\nwhich were held to be directly inspired by God, and indeed copied from\na book supposed to exist in the handwriting of God,--the chapters\nof the Kor\u0101n,--there were many sayings of Mohammad which were said\nin a private unofficial way in his circle of intimate friends, and\nwhich were almost as carefully treasured up as the others. These are\nthe Traditions, or as I may call them, the Table-Talk of Mohammad,\nfor they correspond more nearly to what we mean by table-talk than\nany other form of composition. The Table-Talk of Mohammad deals with\nthe most minute and delicate circumstances of life, and is much more\nserviceable to the lawyer than the Kor\u0101n itself. The sayings are\nvery numerous and very detailed; but how far they are genuine it is\nnot easy to determine. The Kor\u0101n is known beyond any doubt to be at\nthis moment, in all practical respects, identical with the prophet\u2019s\nwords as collected immediately after his death. How it was edited and\ncollected may be read elsewhere. The only point to be here insisted\non is that its genuineness is above suspicion. Unfortunately, as much\ncannot be said for the Traditions. They were collected at a late\nperiod, subjected to a totally useless and preposterous criticism, and\nthus reduced from 600,000 to 7275, without becoming in the least more\ntrustworthy in the process. It is almost impossible now to sift them\nwith any certainty. All we can go upon is internal evidence, and a few\nobvious contradictions in date--as when people relate things which\nthey apparently heard before they were born. Beyond this, criticism\nis helpless, and all we can do is what I have done here--to collect\nthose which strike the attention and do not seem peculiarly improbable,\nand accept them provisionally as possibly correct reports of\nMohammad\u2019s table-talk. There are six standard collections of orthodox\ntraditions, but those on pp. 147-182 are taken from an abridgment, the\nMishk\u0101t-el-Mas\u0101b\u012bh, which Captain A. N. Matthews had the patience to\ntranslate and publish at Calcutta in 1809. In the midst of such doubt,\nthey are sufficient for the purpose of illustration, without any\npretence of completeness or critical precision.\n\nIn conclusion, let us banish from our minds any conception of the\nKor\u0101n as a code of law, or a systematic exposition of a creed. It is\nneither of these. Let us only think of a simple enthusiast confronted\nwith many and varied difficulties, and trying to meet them as best\nhe could by the inward light that guided him. The guidance was not\nperfect, we know, and there is much that is blameworthy in Mohammad;\nbut whatever we believe of him, let it be granted that his errors were\nnot the result of premeditated imposition, but were the mistakes of an\nignorant, impressible, superstitious, but nevertheless noble and great\nman.\n\n _March 1882._\n\n\n\n\nREFERENCES.\n\n\nIn the _Introduction_, pp. xviii.-xxv. and xliv.-xlviii., appeared\nbefore in my Introduction to Lane\u2019s _Selections from the Kur-\u0101n_,\n2nd ed. (Tr\u00fcbner\u2019s Oriental series, 1879), to which I must refer the\nreader for further information on Mohammad and Isl\u0101m, and especially\nconcerning the portions of the Kor\u0101n dealing with the Jewish legends\npurposely omitted from the present work. Pp. xxxv.-xxxviii. reproduce\na few paragraphs from the _Edinburgh Review_, No. 316, October 1881,\np. 371, ff. The Arab poetry quoted in the Introduction is from the\nadmirable versions contributed by Mr. C. J. Lyall to the Journal of the\nAsiatic Society of Bengal, 1877 and 1881. The description of Mohammad\u2019s\nperson and mode of life, pp. xxvii.-xxix., is from E. Deutsch,\n_Literary Remains_, p. 70, ff; and R. Bosworth Smith, _Mohammed and\nMohammedanism_, 2d ed., p. 131; to which, and to the Rev. E. Sell\u2019s\n_Faith of Islam_, in many respects the best treatise on the Mohammadan\nreligion, as it now is, that has appeared in recent years, the reader\nis referred for much concerning modern and historical Mohammadanism\nwhich is beyond the design of the present volume.\n\nIn the text, I must acknowledge my general indebtedness to the\nversions of George Sale and the Rev. J. M. Rodwell for many valuable\ninterpretations; but I wish especially to record my obligations to\nProf. E. H. Palmer, in respect of some fine renderings which he has\nbeen the first to use in his translation of the Kor\u0101n for the series of\n_Sacred Books of the East_, and which I have not hesitated to adopt.\n\n S. L.-P.\n\n\n\n\nANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS.\n\n\n PAGE\n\n INTRODUCTION v\n\n The Kor\u0101n is capable of adequate representation in small compass\n and approximately chronological order. The original audience of\n Mohammad\u2019s speeches: Arabian characteristics in desert-life and\n town-life, poetry and religion. Mohammad\u2019s early life, person\n and habits, call to preach, and work at Mekka. The three periods\n of Mekka speeches. Change of position at Medina, and consequent\n change in oratory. The Medina speeches. Incompleteness of the law\n of the Kor\u0101n. The Traditions or Table-talk.\n References lvi\n Analytical Table of Contents lvii\n\n THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA\n I.--_THE POETIC PERIOD._ Aet. 40-44, A.D. 609-613 1\n\n THE NIGHT (xcii.) 3\n The difference between the good and the wicked in their lives and\n their future states; warning of hell and promise of heaven.\n THE COUNTRY (xc) 5\n The steep road to the life to come is by charity and faith.\n THE SMITING (ci.) 7\n The terrors of the Judgment Day and the Bottomless Pit.\n THE QUAKING (xcix.) 8\n Signs of the Last Day, when all secrets shall be revealed.\n THE RENDING ASUNDER (lxxxii.) 9\n Signs of the Last Day; man\u2019s unbelief; angels record his actions,\n by which his fate shall be decided.\n THE CHARGERS (c.) 11\n Man\u2019s ingratitude towards God will be exposed on the Last Day.\n SUPPORT (cvii.) 12\n Uncharitable hypocrites denounced.\n THE BACKBITER (civ.) 13\n The covetous slanderer shall be cast into Blasting Hell.\n THE SPLENDOUR OF MORNING (xciii.) 14\n The goodness of God towards Mohammad must be imitated towards\n others.\n THE MOST HIGH (lxxxvii.) 15\n God the Creator is to be magnified. Mohammad is enjoined to\n admonish the people; the opposite fates of those who hearken\n and those who turn away; the message is the same as that\n delivered by Abraham and Moses.\n THE WRAPPING (lxxxi.) 17\n Signs of the Last Day. Authenticity of the Kor\u0101n: Mohammad\n neither mad nor possessed. The Kor\u0101n a reminder, but man is\n powerless to follow it except by God\u2019s decree.\n THE NEWS (lxxviii.) 19\n Men dispute about the Last Day: yet it shall come as surely as\n God created all things. The last trump and the gathering of\n mankind to judgment. Description of the torments of Hell and\n the delights of Paradise.\n THE FACT (lvi.) 22\n Signs of the Last Day. The three kinds of men--prophets,\n righteous, and wicked--and the future state of each. The power\n of God shown in creation. The Kor\u0101n true and sacred. The state\n after death.\n THE MERCIFUL (lv.) 27\n A _Benedicite_ reciting the works of God, and the Judgment and\n Paradise and Hell, with a refrain challenging genii and mankind\n to deny His signs.\n THE UNITY (cxii.) 32\n A profession of faith in one God.\n THE F\u0100TIHAH (i.) 33\n A prayer for guidance and help: the Muslim _Paternoster_.\n\n THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA\n II.--_THE RHETORICAL PERIOD._ Aet. 44-46, A.D. 613-615 35\n\n THE KINGDOM (lxvii.) 37\n The power of God shown in creation; Hell the reward of those who\n disbelieve in God\u2019s messengers and discredit His signs. None\n but God knows when the Last Day will be.\n THE MOON (liv.) 41\n The Judgment approaches, but men will not heed the warning, and\n call it a lie and magic. Even so did former generations reject\n their apostles: the people of Noah, Ad, Tham\u016bd, Lot, Pharaoh;\n and there came upon all of them a grievous punishment. Neither\n shall the men of Mekka escape. Refrain: the certainty of\n punishment and the heedlessness of man.\n K. (l.) 45\n Why is the Resurrection so incredible? Does not God continually\n create and re-create? Former generations were equally\n incredulous, but they all found the threat of punishment was\n true. So shall it be again. The recording angels shall bear\n witness, and hell shall be filled. Who can escape God, who\n created all things, and to whom all things must one day return?\n Y.S. (xxxvi.) 49\n Mohammad a true messenger from God to warn the people, whose\n ancestors would not be warned. God hardens their hearts so that\n they cannot believe. Everything is written down in the Book\n of God. Just so did the people of Antioch reject the apostles\n of Jesus, and stoned the only convert among themselves; and\n there came a shout from heaven and exterminated them. Why do\n not men reflect on such warnings? Signs of the Resurrection are\n seen in the revival of spring and the growth of plants, and\n the alternations of night and day, and the changes of the sun\n and moon, and the ships that sail on the sea. Yet they are not\n convinced! The Last Day shall come upon them suddenly. Paradise\n and Hell. The Kor\u0101n not a poem, but a plain warning of God\u2019s\n might and judgment to come. Their idols need protection instead\n of giving it. God who first made life can quicken it again: his\n \u201cFiat\u201d is instantly carried out.\n THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL (xvii.) 57\n The dream of the journey to Jerusalem. The two sins of the\n children of Israel and their punishments. The Kor\u0101n gives\n promise of a great reward for righteousness and an aching\n torment for disbelief. Each man shall be judged by his own\n deeds, and none shall be punished for another\u2019s sin; nor was\n any folk destroyed without warning. Kindness and respect to\n parents, and duty to kinsfolk and travellers and the poor;\n hospitality, yet without waste; faithfulness in engagements,\n and honesty in trading, enjoined. Idolatry, infanticide,\n inchastity, homicide (except in a just cause and in fair\n retaliation), and abusing orphans\u2019 trust, and pride, forbidden.\n The angels are not the daughters of God: He has no partner,\n and the whole creation worships Him. But God hardens people\u2019s\n hearts so that they turn away from the Kor\u0101n. The Resurrection\n is nearer than they think. The faithful must speak pleasantly\n and not wrangle. Mohammad has no power to compel belief. The\n false gods themselves dread God\u2019s torment. The power of working\n miracles was not given to Mohammad, because the people of yore\n always disbelieved in them: so Tham\u016bd with the miraculous\n camel. The story of the devil\u2019s original enmity to Adam; but\n the devil cannot protect his followers against God, to whom\n belongs all power on land and sea, and whose is the Judgment.\n Mohammad nearly tempted to temporize. Prayer at sunset and dawn\n and night vigils commended. Man\u2019s insincerity. The spirit sent\n from God. The Kor\u0101n inimitable. The demand for miracles and for\n angelic messengers repudiated. The fate of those who disbelieve\n in the resurrection. Moses and Pharaoh: the consequences of\n unbelief. The Kor\u0101n divided for convenience. The solace of the\n faithful. God and the Merciful the same deity.\n\n THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA\n III.--_THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD._ Aet. 46-53, A.D. 615-622 73\n\n THE BELIEVER (xl.) 75\n The revelation is from God. Former generations rejected their\n apostles and were punished. The angels praise God. The despair\n of the damned. The great tryst: the judgment of God is\n unerring. The generations of yore were greater than those of\n to-day: yet nothing could save them from God. The history of\n Moses and Pharaoh and the Egyptian convert, and the evil fate\n of the infidels. The proud shall not win in the end. Praise\n of God in His attributes. Hell is the goal of idolaters and\n polytheists. Patience enjoined upon Mohammad. The signs of\n God\u2019s might and the dire consequences of doubting it.\n JONAH (x.) 87\n Repudiation of sorcery. Signs of God\u2019s power, and the\n consequences of believing and disbelieving them. Insincerity\n of man: but former generations were destroyed for unbelief.\n Mohammad has no power to speak the Kor\u0101n save as God reveals\n it. Idolatry ridiculed. Miracles disclaimed. Man believes when\n he is in danger, and disbelieves when he is rescued. The life\n of this world like grass that will be mown to-morrow. The\n reward of well and evil doing and the judgment of idolaters.\n God\u2019s might in creation. The Kor\u0101n no forgery, as will be\n plainly seen one day. Every nation has its apostle and its\n appointed term, which cannot be hastened or retarded. Now the\n people are warned, and all they do is seen of God. God\u2019s power:\n He has no Son. The story of Noah and the ark, and Moses and the\n magicians, and the passage of the Red Sea, and the establishing\n of the Children of Israel. The people of Jonah. God compels\n unbelief or belief as He pleases, and none can believe without\n His permission. The signs of God are in the heavens and the\n earth. True worship.\n THUNDER (xiii.) 104\n The mighty works of God. The punishment of unbelief. Miracles\n disclaimed. The omniscience and unvariableness of God, the\n hurler of thunder and lightning and the giver of rain. The\n reward of the faithful; the torment of apostates. God misleads\n whom He will, and, if He pleased, could guide all mankind\n aright. Apostles have been mocked at before: and the mockers\n were punished. Paradise. Mohammad\u2019s task is only to warn: it is\n God\u2019s business to punish.\n\n SPEECHES OF MEDINA\n _THE PERIOD OF HARANGUE._ Aet. 53-63, A.D. 622-632 113\n\n DECEPTION (lxiv.) 115\n God\u2019s power in creation. Former apostles were rejected. The\n resurrection, though disbelieved, is a fact--a day when people\n shall find their hopes are deceptive. Paradise and Hell. All\n things are ordained by God. Obedience to God and the apostle\n enjoined. The pleasures of this world are to be distrusted, but\n the fear of God and almsgiving commendable.\n IRON (lvii.) 118\n Praise of God and exhortation to belief and almsgiving and\n fighting for the faith. The future state of the faithful and\n of the hypocrites. The charitable shall be doubly rewarded.\n The present life only a pastime and delusion. Everything\n predestined. The sending of the apostles, of Noah, Abraham, and\n Jesus. Asceticism repudiated. Exhortation to faith and fear.\n THE VICTORY (xlviii.) 124\n A victory was given to encourage the faithful. Commendation of\n those who pledged themselves to support Mohammad and rebuke\n to the desert Arabs who held aloof (on the occasion of the\n expedition to Hudeybia); they shall not share in the spoil\n (of Khaibar). Promise of booty. The truce (of Hudeybia).\n The opposition to Mohammad\u2019s pilgrimage to Mekka shall be\n withdrawn; and a victory shall soon be won. The devotion of the\n faithful and their likeness.\n HELP (cx.) 130\n Exhortation to praise God in the hour of triumph.\n\n THE LAW GIVEN AT MEDINA 131\n\n RELIGIOUS LAW 133\n Creed and good works. Prayer. Alms. Fast. Pilgrimage. Fighting\n for the faith. Sacred month. Forbidden food. Oaths. Wine.\n Gambling. Statues. Divination.\n CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW 139\n Homicide; the blood-wit; murder; retaliation. Fighting against\n the faith. Theft. Usury. Marriage; adultery; divorce; slander.\n Testaments and heirs. Maintenance for widows. Testimony.\n Freeing slaves. Asylum. Small offences and great.\n\n THE TABLE-TALK OF MOHAMMAD 145\n\n Concerning prayer 149\n Of charity 151\n Of fasting 153\n Of reading the Kor\u0101n 154\n Of labour and profit 155\n Of fighting for the faith 159\n Of judgments 160\n Of women and slaves 161\n Of dumb animals 164\n Of hospitality 165\n Of government 166\n Of vanities and sundry matters 168\n Of death 172\n Of the state after death 175\n Of destiny 180\n\n NOTES 183\n\n THE MEKKA SPEECHES, I--THE POETIC PERIOD 183\n THE MEKKA SPEECHES, II--THE RHETORICAL PERIOD 187\n THE MEKKA SPEECHES, III--THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD 190\n THE MEDINA SPEECHES, THE PERIOD OF HARANGUE 192\n THE LAW GIVEN AT MEDINA 193\n TABLE-TALK OF MOHAMMAD 195\n\n INDEX OF CHAPTERS OF THE KOR\u0100N TRANSLATED IN THIS VOLUME 196\n\n THE GOLDEN TREASURY SERIES 1\n\n TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE\n\n\n\n\n THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA\n\n I. THE POETIC PERIOD\n\n _Aet._ 40-44\n A.D. 609-613\n\n\n\n\nTHE NIGHT.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n By the NIGHT when she spreadeth her veil,\n By the DAY when it is manifested,\n By what made the male and the female:\n Verily your aims are diverse.\n\n Then as for him who giveth alms and feareth God,\n And putteth his faith in the Best,\n We will speed him onward to ease.\n And as for him who is covetous and desirous of riches,\n And denieth the Best,\n We will speed him onward to trouble;\n And his riches shall not avail him when he falleth down into Hell.\n Verily ours is the guiding,\n And ours the latter and the former life.\n\n And I have warned you of a flaming fire:\n None shall be burned in it but the wretch,\n Who hath called it a lie and turned his back.\n But the righteous shall be guided away from it--\n He that giveth his substance in charity,\n And doeth no man a kindness in hope of reward,\n But only in seeking the face of his Lord the Most High;\n And in the end he shall surely be well pleased.\n\n (xcii.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE COUNTRY.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n I swear by this COUNTRY--\n And thou art a dweller in this country--\n And by father and child!\n Verily we have created man amid trouble:--\n Doth he think that no one shall prevail against him?\n He saith \u201cI have squandered riches in abundance:\u201d\n Doth he think that no one seeth him?\n Have we not made him two eyes,\n And a tongue and two lips,\n And pointed him out the two highways?\n Yet he doth not attempt the steep one.\n And what shall teach thee what the steep one is?\n The ransoming of captives,\n Or feeding on the day of famine\n The orphan of thy kindred\n Or the poor that lieth in the dust;\n Finally, to be of those who believe, and enjoin steadfastness on\n each other, and enjoin mercy on each other:--\n These are the people of the right hand.\n And those who disbelieve in our signs, they are the people of the\n left:\n Over them a Fire closeth.\n\n (xc.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE SMITING.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n THE SMITING! what is the Smiting?\n And what shall teach thee what the Smiting is?\n The Day when men shall be like scattered moths,\n And the mountains like carded wool!\n Then as for him whose scales are heavy--his shall be a life\n well-pleasing.\n And as for him whose scales are light--his abode shall be the\n Bottomless Pit.\n And what shall teach thee what that is?\n A Raging Fire!\n\n (ci.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE QUAKING.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n When the earth shall quake with her QUAKING,\n And when the earth hath cast forth her burdens,\n And man shall say, \u201cWhat aileth her?\u201d\n On that day shall she tell out her tidings,\n Because thy Lord doth inspire her.\n On that day shall men come in companies to behold their works,\n And whosoever hath wrought an ant\u2019s weight of good shall behold it,\n And whosoever hath wrought an ant\u2019s weight of evil shall behold it.\n\n (xcix.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE RENDING ASUNDER.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n When the Heaven is RENT ASUNDER,\n And when the stars are scattered,\n And when the seas are let loose,\n And when the tombs are turned upside-down,\n The soul shall know what it hath done and left undone.\n O man! what hath deceived thee respecting thy Lord, the Generous;\n Who created thee, and fashioned thee, and moulded thee aright?\n In what form it pleased him He builded thee.\n Nay! but ye take the Judgment for a lie!\n But verily there are watchers over you--\n Worthy reporters--\n Knowing what ye do.\n Verily the righteous shall be in delight,\n And the wicked in Hell-Fire:\n They shall be burnt at it on the day of doom,\n And they shall not be hidden from it.\n What shall teach thee what is the Day of Judgment?\n Again, what shall teach thee what is the Day of Judgment?\n A day when no soul can avail aught for another soul, for the\n ordering on that day is with God.\n\n (lxxxii.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHARGERS.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n By the CHARGERS that pant,\n And the hoofs that strike fire,\n And the scourers at dawn,\n Who stir up the dust with it,\n And cleave through a host with it!\n\n Verily Man is thankless towards his Lord,\n And verily he is witness thereof,\n And verily in his love of weal he is grasping.\n Doth he not know?--when what is in the tombs shall be laid open,\n And what is in men\u2019s breasts shall be laid bare;\n Verily on that day their Lord shall know them well!\n\n (c.)\n\n\n\n\nSUPPORT.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n What thinkest thou of him who calleth the Day of Judgment a lie?\n He it is who driveth away the orphan,\n And is not urgent for the feeding of the poor.\n Woe then to those who pray,\n Those who are careless in their prayers,\n Who make a pretence,\n But withhold SUPPORT.\n\n (cvii.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE BACKBITER.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n Woe to every BACKBITER, slanderer!\n Who hath heaped up riches and counted them over!\n He thinketh that his riches have made him everlasting:\n Nay! he shall surely be cast into Blasting Hell.\n And what shall teach thee what Blasting Hell is?\n The fire of God kindled,\n Which reaches over the hearts;\n Verily it is closed over them [like a tent],\n With stays well-stretched.\n\n (civ.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPLENDOUR OF MORNING.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n By the SPLENDOUR OF MORNING,\n And the still of night!\n Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee nor hated thee;\n And the future will surely be better for thee than the present,\n And thy Lord will surely give to thee and thou wilt be well pleased.\n Did He not find thee an orphan and sheltered thee,\n And found thee erring and guided thee,\n And found thee poor and enriched thee?\n Then as for the orphan, oppress him not,\n And as for him who asketh of thee, chide him not away,\n And as for the bounty of thy Lord, tell of it.\n\n (xciii.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE MOST HIGH.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n Magnify the name of thy LORD, THE MOST HIGH,\n Who created, and fashioned,\n And decreed, and guided,\n Who bringeth forth the pasturage,\n Then turneth it dry and brown.\n\n We will make thee cry aloud, and thou shalt not forget,\n Except what God pleaseth; verily He knoweth the plain and the\n hidden.\n And we will speed thee to ease.\n Admonish, therefore,--verily admonishing profiteth,--\n Whoso feareth God will mind;\n And there will turn away from it only the wretch\n Who shall broil upon the mighty fire;\n And then shall neither die therein, nor live.\n Happy is he who purifieth himself,\n And remembereth the name of his Lord, and prayeth.\n But ye prefer the life of this world,\n Though the life to come is better and more enduring.\n Truly this is in the books of eld,\n The books of Abraham and Moses.\n\n (lxxxvii.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE WRAPPING.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n When the sun shall be WRAPPED UP,\n And when the stars shall fall down,\n And when the mountains shall be removed,\n And when the ten-month camels shall be neglected,\n And when the wild beasts shall be huddled together,\n And when the seas shall boil over,\n And when souls shall be joined to their bodies,\n And when the child that was buried alive shall be asked\n For what crime she was slain;\n And when the Books shall be laid open,\n And when the sky shall be peeled off,\n And when Hell shall be set a-blaze,\n And when Paradise shall be brought near,--\n The soul shall know what it hath wrought.\n\n And I swear by the stars that hide,\n That move swiftly and hide,\n And by the darkening night,\n And by the breath of dawn,--\n Verily this is the word of a noble messenger,\n Strong, firm in the favour of the Lord of the Throne,\n Obeyed and trusted.\n And your companion is not mad:\n Of a surety he saw [the Angel] on the clear horizon:\n And he is not mistrusted as to the unseen,\n Nor is his the speech of a pelted devil.\n Then whither go ye?\n Verily this is but a Reminder to the worlds,\n To whomsoever of you chooseth to walk aright:\n But ye shall not choose it, except God choose it, the Lord of the\n worlds.\n\n (lxxxi.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE NEWS.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n Of what do they question together?\n Of the great NEWS,\n About which they dispute?\n Nay, but they shall know!\n Again,--Nay, but they shall know!\n Have we not made the earth as a bed?\n And the mountains as tent-pegs?\n And created you in pairs,\n And made your sleep for rest,\n And made the night for a mantle,\n And made the day for bread-winning,\n And built above you seven firmaments,\n And put therein a burning lamp,\n And sent down water pouring from the squeezed clouds\n To bring forth grain and herb withal,\n And gardens thick with trees?\n\n Lo! the Day of Decision is appointed--\n The day when there shall be a blowing of the trumpet, and ye shall\n come in troops,\n And the heavens shall be opened, and be full of gates,\n And the mountains shall be removed, and turn into mist.\n Verily Hell lieth in wait,\n The goal for rebels,\n To abide therein for ages;\n They shall not taste therein coolness nor drink,\n Save scalding water and running sores,--\n A meet reward!\n Verily they did not expect the reckoning,\n And they denied our signs with lies;\n But everything have we recorded in a book:--\n \u201cTaste then: for we will only add torment to you.\u201d\n Verily for the pious is a place of joy,\n Gardens and vineyards,\n And full-bosomed girls, their mates,\n And a cup brimming over:\n There shall they hear neither folly nor lying;--\n A reward of thy Lord--a gift sufficient,\n Of the Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and of what is between\n them, the Merciful!\n They shall not obtain speech of him:--\n On the day when the Spirit and the Angels shall stand in ranks,\n they shall have no utterance, save he to whom the Merciful shall\n give leave, and who speaketh rightly.\n That is the day of truth! Then he that chooseth, let him make for\n his Lord as his goal.\n Verily we warn you of torment nigh at hand;\n On the day when man shall see what his hands have sent before him,\n and the unbeliever shall say, \u201cOh! that I were dust.\u201d\n\n (lxxviii.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE FACT.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n When the FACT becomes fact,\n None shall deny it is a fact,--\n Abasing,--exalting!\n When the earth shall be shaken in a shock,\n And the mountains shall be powdered in powder,\n And become like flying dust,\n And ye shall be three kinds.\n\n Then the people of the right hand--what people of good omen!\n And the people of the left hand--what people of ill omen!\n And the outstrippers, still outstripping:--\n These are the nearest [to God],\n In gardens of delight;\n A crowd of the men of yore,\n And a few of the latter days;\n Upon inwrought couches,\n Reclining thereon face to face.\n Youths ever young shall go unto them round about\n With goblets and ewers and a cup of flowing wine,--\n Their heads shall not ache with it, neither shall they be confused;\n And fruits of their choice,\n And flesh of birds to their desire;\n And damsels with bright eyes like hidden pearls,--\n A reward for what they have wrought.\n They shall hear no folly therein, nor any sin,\n But only the greeting, \u201cPeace! peace!\u201d\n\n And the people of the right hand--what people of good omen!\n Amid thornless lote-trees,\n And bananas laden with fruit,\n And shade outspread,\n And water flowing,\n And fruit abundant,\n Never failing, nor forbidden,\n And wives exalted--\n Verily we produced them specially\n And made them virgins,\n Amorous, of equal age,\n For the people of the right hand,--\n A crowd of the men of yore,\n And a crowd of the latter days.\n But the people of the left hand--what people of ill omen!--\n Amid burning wind and scalding water,\n And a shade of black smoke,\n Not cool or grateful!\n Verily, before that, they were prosperous;\n But they persisted in the most grievous sin,\n And used to say,\n \u201cWhen we have died, and become dust and bones, shall we indeed be\n raised again,\n And our fathers the men of yore?\u201d\n Say: Verily those of yore and of the latter days\n Shall surely be gathered to the trysting-place of a day which is\n known.\n Then ye, O ye who err and call it a lie,\n Shall surely eat of the tree of Zakk\u016bm,\n And fill your bellies with it,\n And drink upon it scalding water,--\n Drink like the thirsty camel:--\n This shall be their entertainment on the Day of Judgment!\n\n It is we who created you; why then will ye not believe?\n Have ye considered the germs of life--\n Is it ye who create them, or are we the creators?\n It is we who have decreed death among you; yet are we not debarred\n From changing you for your likes, or producing you how ye know not.\n But ye have known the first creation: why will ye not mind?\n Have ye considered what ye sow?\n Is it ye who raise it, or are we the raisers thereof?\n If we pleased we could surely make it dry, so that ye would stop\n and marvel, [saying]\n \u201cWe have spent, yet we are forbidden [the fruits].\u201d\n Have ye considered the water ye drink?\n Is it ye who send it down from the clouds, or do we send it down?\n If we pleased we could make it salt; why will ye not be thankful?\n Have ye considered the fire which ye kindle?\n Is it ye who make the wood that produces it, or do we make it?\n It is we who have made it for a reminder and a benefit to the\n traveller.\n Then magnify the name of thy Lord the Most Great.\n\n And I swear by the setting-places of the stars,\n And that, if ye knew it, is verily a mighty oath,\n Verily this is the honourable Kor\u0101n,\n Written in the preserved Book:\n Let none touch it but the purified,--\n A revelation from the Lord of the worlds.\n Will ye then disdain this discourse,\n And make it your daily bread to discredit it?\n Why then when the dying man\u2019s soul has come up to his throat,\n And ye at the moment are watching,--\n And we are nearer to him than ye, although ye see us not,--\n Why, if ye are to have no Judgment,\n Do ye not cause that soul to return, if ye speak the truth?\n But if he be one of those brought nearest to God,\n There is rest for him and sweet odour and a garden of delights.\n And if he be of the people of the right hand,\n [He shall be greeted with] \u201cPeace to thee,\u201d from the people of the\n right.\n And if he be of those who call it a lie,\n The erring,\n Then an entertainment of scalding water,\n And broiling in Hell.\n Verily this is assured truth!\n So magnify the name of thy Lord the Most Great.\n\n (lvi.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE MERCIFUL.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n THE MERCIFUL hath taught the Kor\u0101n;\n He created man,\n Taught him clear speech;\n The sun and the moon in their courses,\n And the plants and the trees do homage.\n And the Heaven, He raised it, and appointed the balance.\n (That ye should not transgress in the balance:--\n But weigh ye justly and stint not the balance.)\n And the Earth, He prepared it for living things,\n Therein is fruit, and the palm with sheaths,\n And grain with its husk, and the fragrant herb:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n He created man of clay like a pot,\n And He created the Jinn of clear fire:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n Lord of the two Easts,\n And Lord of the two Wests:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n He has let loose the two seas which meet together;\n Yet between them is a barrier they cannot pass:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n He bringeth up therefrom pearls great and small:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n And His are the ships towering on the sea like mountains:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n All on the earth passeth away,\n But the face of thy Lord abideth endued with majesty and honour:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n All things in the Heaven and Earth supplicate Him, every day is He\n at work:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n We will apply ourselves to you, O ye two notables:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n O company of Jinn and men, if ye are able to compass the boundaries\n of the Heavens and of the Earth, then compass them; but ye shall\n not compass them, save in our might:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n There shall be shot at you a flash of fire and molten brass; ye\n cannot defend yourselves:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n And when the Heaven shall be rent and become rosy like a red hide:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n On that day neither man nor Jinn shall be asked about their sin:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n The sinners shall be known by their signs, and they shall be seized\n by the forelock and the feet:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n \u201cThis is Hell which the sinners took for a lie,\u201d\n To and fro shall they wander between it and water scalding hot:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n But for him who feareth the majesty of his Lord [shall be] two\n gardens:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n With trees branched over:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n And therein two flowing wells:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n And therein of every fruit two kinds:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n Reclining on couches with linings of brocade and the fruit of the\n gardens to their hand:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n Therein the shy-eyed maidens neither man nor Jinn hath touched\n before:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n Like rubies and pearls:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n Shall the reward of good be aught but good?\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n And beside these shall be two other gardens:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n Dark green in hue:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n With gushing wells therein:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n Therein fruit and palm and pomegranate:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n Therein the best and comeliest maids:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n Bright-eyed, kept in tents:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n Man hath not touched them before, nor Jinn:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n Reclining on green cushions and fine carpets:\n _Then which of the bounties of your Lord will ye twain deny?_\n Blessed be the name of thy Lord endued with majesty and honour.\n\n (lv.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE UNITY.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n Say: He is ONE God;\n God the Eternal.\n He begetteth not, nor is begotten;\n Nor is there one like unto Him.\n\n (cxii.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE F\u0100TIHAH.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds!\n The Compassionate, the Merciful!\n King of the day of judgment!\n Thee we worship, and Thee we ask for help.\n Guide us in the straight way,\n The way of those to whom Thou art gracious;\n Not of those upon whom is Thy wrath nor of the erring.\n\n (i.)\n\n\n\n\n THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA\n\n II. THE RHETORICAL PERIOD\n\n _Aet._ 44-46\n A.D. 613-615\n\n\n\n\nTHE KINGDOM.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n Blessed be He in whose hand is the KINGDOM: and He is powerful over\n all;\n Who created death and life to prove you which of you is best in\n actions, and He is the Mighty, the Very Forgiving;\n Who hath created seven heavens in stages: thou seest no fault in\n the creation of the Merciful; but lift up thine eyes again; dost\n thou see any cracks?\n Then lift up the eyes again twice; thy sight will recoil to thee\n dazzled and dim.\n Moreover, we have decked the lower heaven with lamps, and have made\n them for pelting the devils, and we have prepared for them the\n torment of the flame.\n And for those who disbelieve in their Lord, the torment of Hell:\n and evil the journey to it!\n When they shall be cast into it, they shall hark to its braying as\n it boileth;--\n It shall well-nigh burst with fury! Every time a troop is thrown\n into it, its keepers shall ask them, \u201cDid not a warner come to\n you?\u201d\n They shall say, \u201cYea! a warner came to us; but we took him for a\n liar, and said, \u2018God hath not sent down anything. Verily, ye are\n only in great error.\u2019\u201d\n And they shall say, \u201cHad we but hearkened or understood, we had not\n been among the people of the flame!\u201d\n And they will confess their sins: so a curse on the people of the\n flame!\n Verily they who fear their Lord in secret, for them is\n forgiveness--a great reward.\n And whether ye hide your speech, or say it aloud, verily He knoweth\n well the secrets of the breast!\n What! shall He not know, who created? and He is the subtle, the\n well-aware!\n It is He who hath made the earth smooth for you: so walk on its\n sides, and eat of what He hath provided--and unto Him shall be\n the resurrection.\n Are ye sure that He who is in the Heaven will not make the earth\n sink with you? and behold, it shall quake!\n Or are ye sure that He who is in the Heaven will not send against\n you a sand-storm,--so shall ye know about the warning!\n And assuredly those who were before them called it a lie, and how\n was it with their denial?\n Or do they not look up at the birds over their heads, flapping\n their wings? None supporteth them but the Merciful: verily He\n seeth all.\n Who is it that will be a host for you, to defend you, if not the\n Merciful? verily the unbelievers are in naught but delusion!\n Who is it that will provide for you, if He withhold His provision?\n Nay, they persist in pride and running away!\n Is he, then, who goeth grovelling on his face better guided than he\n who goeth upright on a straight path?\n Say: it is He who produced you and made you hearing and sight and\n heart--little are ye thankful!\n Say: it is He who sowed you in the earth, and to Him shall ye be\n gathered.\n But they say, \u201cWhen shall this threat be, if ye are speakers of\n truth?\u201d\n Say: the knowledge thereof is with God alone, and I am naught but a\n plain warner.\n But when they shall see it nigh, the countenance of those who\n disbelieved shall be evil,--and it shall be said, \u201cThis is what\n ye called for.\u201d\n Say: Have ye considered--whether God destroy me and those with me,\n or whether we win mercy--still who will save the unbelievers from\n aching torment?\n Say: He is the Merciful: we believe in Him, and in Him we put our\n trust--and ye shall soon know which it is that is in manifest\n error!\n Say: Have ye considered if your waters should sink away to-morrow,\n who will bring you running water?\n\n (lxvii.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE MOON.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n The Hour approacheth and the MOON is cleft asunder.\n But if they see a sign they turn aside, and say \u201cUseless magic!\u201d\n And they call it a lie, and follow their own lusts:--but everything\n is ordained.\n Yet there came to them messages of forbiddance--\n Wisdom supreme--but warners serve not!\n Then turn from them: the Day when the Summoner shall summon to a\n matter of trouble,\n With eyes cast down shall they come forth from their graves, as if\n they were scattered locusts,\n Hurrying headlong to the summoner: the unbelievers shall say, \u201cThis\n is a hard day!\u201d\n\n The people of Noah, before them, called it a lie, and they called\n our servant a liar, and said, \u201cMad!\u201d and he was rejected.\n Then he besought his Lord, \u201cVerily I am overpowered: defend me.\u201d\n So we opened the gates of heaven with water pouring forth,\n And we made the earth break out in springs, and the waters met by\n an order foreordained;\n And we carried him on a vessel of planks and nails,\n Which sailed on beneath our eyes;--a reward for him who had been\n disbelieved.\n And we left it as a sign; but doth any one mind?\n _And what was my torment and warning?_\n _And we have made the Kor\u0101n easy for reminding; but doth anyone\n mind?_\n\n Ad called it a lie; _but what was my torment and warning?_\n Lo, we sent against them a biting wind on a day of settled ill-luck.\n It tore men away as though they were trunks of palm-trees torn-up.\n _But what was my torment and warning?_\n _And we have made the Kor\u0101n easy for reminding; but doth any one\n mind?_\n\n Tham\u016bd called the warning a lie:\n And they said, \u201cA single mortal from among ourselves shall we\n follow? verily then we should be in error and madness.\n Is the reminding committed to him alone among us? Nay, he is an\n insolent liar.\u201d\n They shall know to-morrow about the insolent liar!\n Lo! we will send the she-camel to prove them: so mark them well,\n and be patient.\n And predict to them that the water shall be divided between\n themselves and her, every draught taken in turn.\n But they called their companion, and he took and hamstrung her--\n _And what was my torment and warning?_\n Lo! we sent against them one shout; and they became like the dry\n sticks of the hurdle-maker.\n _And we have made the Kor\u0101n easy for reminding; but doth any one\n mind?_\n\n The people of Lot called the warning a lie;--\n Lo! we sent a sand-storm against them, except the family of Lot,\n whom we delivered at daybreak\n As a favour from us; thus do we reward the thankful.\n And he had warned them of our attack, but they misdoubted the\n warning;\n And they sought his guests, so we put out their eyes.\n \u201c_So taste ye my torment and warning!_\u201d\n And in the morning there overtook them a punishment abiding.\n \u201c_So taste my torment and warning._\u201d\n _And we have made the Kor\u0101n easy for reminding; but doth any one\n mind?_\n\n And there came a warning to the people of Pharaoh:\n They called our signs all a lie: so we gripped them with the grip\n of omnipotent might.\n\n Are your unbelievers better men than those? Is there immunity for\n you in the Books?\n Do they say, \u201cWe are a company able to defend itself?\u201d\n They shall all be routed, and turn their backs.\n Nay, but the Hour is their threatened time, and the Hour shall be\n most grievous and bitter.\n Verily the sinners are in error and madness!\n One day they shall be dragged into the fire on their faces: \u201c_Taste\n ye the touch of Hell._\u201d\n\n Verily all things have we created by a decree,\n And our command is but one moment, like the twinkling of an eye.\n And we have destroyed the like of you:--_but doth any one mind?_\n And everything that they do is in the Books;\n Everything, little and great, is written down.\n Verily the pious shall be amid gardens and rivers,\n In the seat of truth, before the King Omnipotent.\n\n (liv.)\n\n\n\n\nK.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n K. By the glorious Kor\u0101n.\n Nay, they marvel that a warner from among themselves hath come to\n them: and the unbelievers say, \u201cThis is a marvellous thing!\n When we are dead and are become dust!--that is a far-fetched\n return!\u201d\n We know what the earth consumeth of them, and with us is a book\n that keepeth count.\n Nay, they called the truth a lie when it came to them, but they are\n in a perplexed state.\n Will they not look up to the heaven above them, how we built it,\n and beautified it, and there are no flaws therein?\n And we spread out the earth, and cast stable mountains upon it, and\n caused to grow there plants of all beauteous kinds,\n For consideration and warning to every repentant servant.\n And we sent down water from heaven as a blessing, and caused\n thereby gardens and harvest grain to grow,\n And tall palm-trees with spathes heaped up,\n A provision for our servants; and revived thereby a barren land.\n Like that shall the resurrection be.\n Before them the people of Noah and the people of Er-Rass and Tham\u016bd\n called the prophets liars,\n And Ad, and Pharaoh, and the brethren of Lot, and the people of the\n grove, and the people of Tubba\u00b4--one and all called the apostles\n liars,--and found the threat true.\n Were we then impotent as to the first creation? yet they are in\n doubt about a new creation.\n We created man, and we know what his soul whispereth, and we are\n nearer to him than his jugular vein.\n\n When the two note-takers take note, sitting on the right hand and\n on the left,\n Not a word doth he utter, but a watcher is by him ready.\n And the stupor of death shall come in truth;--\u201cthis is what thou\n would\u2019st have avoided.\u201d\n And the trumpet shall be blown,--that is the Day of the Threat!\n And every soul shall come, along with a driver and a witness--\n \u201cThou didst not heed this: so we have taken away from thee thy\n veil, and to-day thy sight is keen.\u201d\n And his companion shall say, \u201cThis is what I am ready to witness.\u201d\n \u201cCast ye into Hell every unbelieving rebel,\n Hinderer of the good, transgressor, doubter,\n Who setteth up other gods with God; cast ye him into the fierce\n torment.\u201d\n His companion shall say, \u201cO our Lord! I misled him not; but he was\n in fathomless error.\u201d\n God shall say, \u201cWrangle not before me, for I charged you before\n about the threat.\n My word does not change, and I am not unjust to my servants.\u201d\n On that day will we say to Hell, \u201cArt thou full?\u201d and it shall say,\n \u201cIs there more?\u201d\n And Paradise shall be brought nigh to the righteous, not afar:--\n \u201cThis is what ye were promised, unto every one who turneth himself\n to God and keepeth His laws,\n Who feareth the Merciful in secret, and cometh with a contrite\n heart;\n Enter it in peace:\u201d--that is the Day of Eternity!\n They shall have what they please therein, and increase at our hands.\n\n And how many generations have we destroyed before them, mightier\n than they in valour! then seek through the land--is there any\n refuge?\n Verily in that is a warning to him who hath a heart, or giveth ear,\n and is a beholder.\n And We created the heavens, and the earth, and what is between\n them, in six days, and no weariness touched us.\n Then be patient with what they say, magnify thy Lord with praise\n before the rising of the sun and its setting,\n And in the night magnify Him, and in the endings of the prayers.\n And give ear to the day when the crier shall cry from a near place,\n The day when they shall hear the shout in truth--that is the day of\n resurrection!\n Verily it is we who give life and death, and to us do all return.\n The day when the earth shall gape asunder over them suddenly--that\n is the gathering easy to us!\n We know well what they say: and thou art not a tyrant over them.\n But warn by the Kor\u0101n him who feareth the threat.\n\n (l.)\n\n\n\n\nY. S.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n Y. S. By the wise Kor\u0101n!\n Verily thou art of the Messengers\n Upon the straight way.\n A revelation of the Mighty, the Merciful:--\n To warn a people whose fathers were not warned, and themselves are\n heedless.\n Our word has proved true against the most of them; yet they will\n not believe!\n Verily we have put shackles on their necks, reaching to the chin,\n and their heads are tied back;\n And we have put a barrier before them and a barrier behind them,\n and we have covered them so that they see not;\n And it is all one to them whether thou warn them or warn them not:\n they will not believe.\n Thou wilt only warn to good purpose him who followeth the monition\n and feareth the Merciful in secret: so tell him good tidings of\n forgiveness and a noble reward.\n Verily it is we who quicken the dead, and write down the deeds they\n have sent before them and the vestiges they leave behind them;\n and everything do we set down in the plain Exemplar.\n\n And frame for them a parable--the people of the town [of Antioch],\n when the Apostles came to it;\n When we sent unto them two, and they called them liars; so we\n strengthened them with a third, and they said, \u201cVerily we are\n sent unto you.\u201d\n The people said, \u201cYe are only men like us; and the Merciful hath\n not revealed aught; in sooth ye are only lying.\u201d\n They said, \u201cOur Lord knoweth that we are indeed sent unto you;\n And there is naught laid upon us but to announce a plain message.\u201d\n The people said, \u201cOf a truth we have drawn an evil augury from\n you: unless ye desist, we will surely stone you, and a painful\n punishment shall surely betide you from us.\u201d\n They said, \u201cYour evil augury is with yourselves! If ye be\n warned?--Nay! ye are an ignorant people.\u201d\n And there came from the furthest part of the city a man running: he\n said, \u201cO my people! follow the Apostles,\n Follow those who ask you not for recompense, and who are guided\n aright.\n And what is in me, that I should not worship Him who made me and to\n whom ye must return?\n Shall I take gods beside Him? If the Merciful be pleased to afflict\n me, their intercession will not avail me aught, nor will they\n deliver me;\n Verily in that case I should be in a manifest error.\n Verily I believe in your Lord: therefore hear ye me.\u201d--\n It was said, \u201cEnter into Paradise,\u201d and he said, \u201cWould that my\n people knew\n How that my Lord hath forgiven me and hath made me one of the\n honoured!\u201d\n And afterwards we sent not down upon his people armies out of\n heaven nor what we were wont to send down:\n It was but one shout, and lo, they were extinct!\n\n O the pity of men! No apostle cometh to them but they laugh him to\n scorn.\n Do they not consider how many generations we have destroyed before\n them?\n Verily they shall not return to them,\n But gathered together before us shall they all be arraigned.\n\n And a sign for them is the dead earth which we quicken and bring\n thereforth grain, and they eat of it;\n And we make therein gardens of palm-trees and vines, and cause\n springs to gush forth therein;\n That they may eat of its fruits, and of the labour of their hands:\n and will they not be thankful?\n Extolled be the glory of Him who hath created all sorts of what the\n earth beareth, and of men\u2019s selves, and of that they know not of!\n And a sign for them is the night. We draw away the day from it, and\n lo! they are in darkness;\n And the sun hasteneth to her resting-place.--This is the ordinance\n of the Mighty, the Wise!--\n And for the moon we have decreed his mansions, till he is wasted to\n the likeness of a withered palm-branch.\n It is not meet that the sun should overtake the moon, nor the night\n outstrip the day; but each doth swim in its sphere.\n And it is a sign for them that we carry their offspring in the\n burthened ship;\n And that we create for them the like of it to ride on;\n And if we please, we drown them, and there is no succour for them,\n nor are they delivered,\n Save in our mercy, and for a transient joy.\n And when it is said to them, \u201cFear what is before you and what is\n behind you; haply ye may obtain mercy:\u201d\n Thou bringest not one sign of the signs of their Lord but they turn\n away from it!\n And when it is said to them, \u201cGive alms of what God hath bestowed\n on you,\u201d they who disbelieve say to those who believe, \u201cShall we\n feed him whom God can feed if He pleases? verily ye are only in\n manifest error.\u201d\n\n And they say \u201cWhen will this threat come to pass, if ye be speakers\n of truth?\u201d\n They await but a single blast; it shall smite them whilst they are\n wrangling,\n And they shall not be able to make their wills, and unto their\n families they shall not return.\n And the trumpet shall be blown, and behold they shall hasten out of\n the graves to their Lord:\n Saying, \u201cOh, woe is us! who hath roused us from our sleeping-place?\n This is what the Merciful threatened; and the apostles spake\n truth.\u201d\n There shall be but one blast, and, lo! all are arraigned before us;\n And on that day no soul shall be wronged at all, nor shall ye be\n recompensed save for what ye have wrought.\n\n Verily on that day the people of Paradise shall, be happy in their\n pursuits,\n They and their wives reclining on couches in the shade;\n They have fruit there and whatsoever they demand:\n \u201cPeace\u201d is their greeting from a merciful Lord.\n\n \u201cSeparate ye this day, O ye sinners!\n Did I not charge you, O sons of Adam, not to serve the\n Devil,--surely he is your open enemy,--\n But to worship Me: this is the straight way?\n Yet he led away a great multitude of you: had ye no wits?\n This is Hell, which ye were threatened with:\n Roast there to-day, because ye did not believe.\u201d\n On that day will we set a seal on their mouths, but their hands\n shall speak to us, and their feet shall bear witness of what they\n have earned for themselves.\n And if we pleased, we could put out their eyes, and still would\n they hasten on their way: but how would they see?\n And if we pleased we could transform them as they stand so that\n they could not go on or turn back;\n And him whom we make old, we bow down his body: have they no wits?\n\n We have not taught [Mohammad] poetry, nor would it befit him. It is\n only a warning and a plain Kor\u0101n,\n To warn whosoever liveth: and the sentence shall be carried out\n upon the unbelievers.\n Do they not see that we have created for them, of what our hands\n have made, the cattle which they possess?\n And we have subdued them unto them, and some of them are for riding\n and of some they eat,\n And they have in them profit and milk to drink: and will they not\n be thankful?\n But they have taken other gods beside God, if haply they may be\n holpen:\n They are not able to help them; yet they themselves are an army\n arrayed for their defence.\n\n But let not their speech grieve thee: verily, we know what they\n hide and what they show!\n Doth not man see that we created him from a germ? Yet, behold he is\n an open adversary,\n And he putteth arguments to us, and forgetteth his creation,\n saying, \u201cWho can quicken bones that are rotten?\u201d\n Say: He who first made them to be shall quicken them: for all\n creating He knoweth well;--\n Who made for you fire from a green tree, and behold, ye kindle with\n it;\n And is not He who created the Heavens and the Earth able to create\n their like? Yea! for He is the wise Creator.\n His command, when he willeth a thing, is only to say to it \u201cBE,\u201d\n and it is!\n\n Then extolled be the Perfection of Him in whose hand is the empire\n over all, and to whom ye must return.\n\n (xxxvi.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n Extolled be the glory of Him who conveyed his servant by night from\n the Sacred Mosque to the furthest mosque, whose precincts we have\n blessed, to show him our signs! Verily, He it is who heareth and\n seeth!\n And we gave the Book of the Law to Moses and made it a guide to the\n CHILDREN OF ISRAEL--\u201cTake ye no guardian beside Me,\n Seed of those whom we bare [in the ark] with Noah! Verily he was a\n grateful servant!\u201d\n And we ordained for the Children of Israel in the Book,--\u201cYe shall\n surely work iniquity in the earth twice, and ye shall be puffed\n up with a mighty arrogance.\u201d\n So when the threat came to pass for the first of the two sins, we\n sent upon you servants of ours armed with grievous punishment;\n and they went among your houses, and the threat was carried out.\n Then in turn we gave you victory over them, and helped you with\n riches and sons, and made you a very numerous host.\n If ye do well, ye will do well to your own souls, and if ye do ill,\n it will be to them also. And when the threat came to pass for the\n second sin,--[the enemy came] to afflict you, and to enter the\n mosque as they entered it the first time, and to utterly destroy\n what they had overpowered.\n Haply your Lord will have mercy on you! and if ye turn, we will\n turn; but we have made Hell for a prison for the unbelievers.\n\n Verily this Kor\u0101n guideth to the right way and giveth good tidings\n to believers,\n Who do that which is right, that for them is a great reward;\n And that for those who believe not in the life to come, we have\n made ready an aching torment.\n\n Man prayeth for evil as he prayeth for good: for man was ever hasty.\n\n We have made the night and the day for two signs: then we blot out\n the sign of the night, and make the sign of the day manifest,\n that ye may seek bounty from your Lord, and may know the number\n of the years and the reckoning of time; and we have defined\n everything definitely.\n And every man\u2019s fate we have fastened about his neck. And we will\n bring to him on the day of Resurrection a book which shall be\n offered to him open:--\n \u201cRead thy Book: thou thyself art accountant enough against thyself\n this day.\u201d\n He who is guided, for his own good only shall he be guided, and he\n who erreth but to his own hurt; and one burthened soul shall not\n be burthened with another\u2019s burthen.\n\n And we did not punish until we had sent an apostle.\n And when we resolved to destroy a city, we enjoined its men of\n wealth, but they disobeyed therein; so the sentence proved true,\n and we destroyed it utterly.\n How many generations have we swept away since Noah! and thy Lord\n knoweth and seeth enough of the sins of His servants.\n\n Whoso desireth the present life, we will present him with what we\n please therein, to whom we choose: finally, we will make Hell for\n him to roast in, disgraced and banished:\n But whoso desireth the life to come, and striveth after it\n strenuously, and he a believer,--the endeavour of these shall be\n acceptable:\n To all, to these and those, will we extend the gifts of thy Lord;\n and the gifts of thy Lord are not limited.\n See how we have made some of them excellent above others! but the\n life to come is greater in degrees and greater in excellence.\n\n Set no other god with God, lest thou sit down disgraced and\n defenceless.\n Thy Lord hath ordained that ye worship none but Him; and kindness\n to your parents, whether one or both of them attain old age with\n thee: then say not to them, \u201cFie!\u201d neither reproach them; but\n speak to them generous words,\n And droop the wing of humility to them out of compassion, and say,\n \u201cLord, have compassion on them, like as they fostered me when I\n was little.\u201d\n (Your Lord knoweth perfectly what is in your souls, whether ye be\n well-doers;\n And verily He is forgiving to the repentant.)\n And render to thy kinsman his due, and to the poor and to the son\n of the road (but lavish not wastefully;\n Truly the wasteful are brothers of the Devil, and the Devil is\n ungrateful to his Lord:)\n But if thou turnest away from them, to seek the mercy which thou\n hopest from thy Lord, yet speak to them gentle words.\n And let not thy hand be chained to thy neck; nor yet stretch\n it forth right open, or thou wilt sit down in reproach and\n destitution.\n Verily thy Lord will be openhanded with provision for whom He\n pleaseth, or He will be sparing; He knoweth and seeth His\n servants.\n And slay not your children for fear of want: we will provide for\n them. Beware! verily killing them is a great sin.\n And draw not near to inchastity; verily it is a foul thing, and\n evil is the course.\n And slay not the soul whom God hath forbidden you to slay, unless\n for a just cause: and whosoever shall be slain wrongfully, we\n give his heir the right [of retaliation]; but let him not exceed\n in slaying; verily he is protected.\n And approach not the substance of the orphan, except to make it\n better, till he cometh to maturity: and observe your covenants;\n verily covenants shall be inquired of hereafter.\n And give full measure when ye measure, weigh with an even balance;\n that is best and fairest in the end.\n And follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge: verily the\n hearing, and the sight, and the heart,--all of them shall be\n inquired of.\n And walk not proudly on the earth: verily thou shalt never cleave\n the earth, nor reach to the mountains in height!\n All that is evil in thy Lord\u2019s eye, an abomination.\n\n That is part of the wisdom which thy Lord hath revealed to thee.\n And make no other god beside God, or thou wilt be thrown into\n Hell in reproach and banishment.\n Hath then the Lord assigned to you sons, and shall He take for\n himself daughters from among the angels? verily ye do say a\n tremendous saying!\n And we made variations in this Kor\u0101n to warn them; yet it only\n increaseth their repulsion.\n Say: If there were other gods with Him, as ye say, they would then\n seek occasion against the Lord of the throne.\n Extolled be His glory, and be He greatly exalted far above what\n they say!\n The seven heavens, and the earth, and all that is therein, magnify\n Him, and there is naught but magnifieth His praise; only ye\n understand not their worship. Verily He is forbearing, forgiving.\n When thou declaimest the Kor\u0101n, we put between thee and those who\n believe not in the life to come a close veil;\n And we put coverings over their hearts, lest they should understand\n it, and deafness in their ears.\n And when thou tellest of thy Lord in the Kor\u0101n as One, they turn\n their backs in repulsion.\n We know well what they listen for, when they listen to thee, and\n when they whisper apart, when the wicked say, \u201cYe do but follow a\n man enchanted.\u201d\n See what comparisons they make for thee! but they wander and cannot\n find the way.\n\n They say, \u201cWhat! when we have become bones and dust, shall we\n forsooth be raised as a new creature?\u201d\n Say: Yes! were ye stones, or iron, or any creature, the hardest [to\n raise again] that your minds can imagine. But they will say, \u201cWho\n shall restore us?\u201d Say: He who began you in the beginning! And\n they will wag their heads at thee and say, \u201cWhen shall this be?\u201d\n Say: Maybe it is nigh at hand.--\n A day when God shall summon you and ye shall answer with His\n praise; and ye shall think that ye have tarried but a little\n while.\n And say to my servants that they speak pleasantly: verily the Devil\n provoketh strife among them; verily the Devil is man\u2019s open enemy.\n Your Lord knoweth you well; if He please He will have mercy on you;\n or if He please He will torment you; and we have not sent thee to\n be our governor over them!\n Thy Lord knoweth well who is in the heavens and in the earth. And\n we distinguished some of the prophets above others, and we gave\n to David the Psalms.\n Say: Call ye upon those whom ye profess beside Him; but they will\n have no power to put away trouble from you or alter it.\n Those whom they invoke do themselves strive for access to their\n Lord, which of them shall be nearest: and they hope for His mercy\n and fear His torment: verily the torment of thy Lord is to be\n dreaded.\n There is no city but we will destroy it before the Day of\n Resurrection, or torment it with grievous torment. That is\n written in the Book.\n\n Nothing hindered our sending thee with signs but that the people of\n yore called them lies. We gave Tham\u016bd the she-camel before their\n very eyes, but they maltreated her; and we send not [a prophet]\n with signs except to terrify.\n And when we said to thee, \u201cVerily thy Lord encompasseth\n mankind;\u201d--and we made the vision which we showed thee, and\n the accursed tree in the Kor\u0101n, only to prove men; and we will\n terrify them; but it shall only add to their great disobedience.\n And when we said to the angels, \u201cBow down to Adam:\u201d and they all\n bowed down save Ibl\u012bs: who said, \u201cWhat! shall I bow down to him\n whom thou hast created of clay?\u201d\n And said, \u201cDost thou consider this one whom thou hast honoured\n above me? Verily, if thou didst spare me till the day of\n Resurrection, I would utterly destroy his offspring, all but a\n few!\u201d\n God said, \u201cBegone; but whosoever of them followeth thee, verily,\n Hell is to be your reward--reward enough!\n And tempt whom thou canst of them by thy voice; and assail them\n with thy horsemen and thy footmen, and share with them in their\n riches and their children, and make them promises. (But the\n Devil\u2019s promises are deceitful.)\n Verily thou hast no power over my servants: and thy Lord sufficeth\n for a defender.\u201d\n It is your Lord who driveth your ships on the sea, that ye may seek\n of His abundance, verily He is merciful to you.\n And when a harm befalleth you at sea, they whom ye call on beside\n Him are missing! Then when He bringeth you safe to land, ye stand\n aloof: for man was ever thankless.\n Are ye sure that He will not swallow you up on the shore, or send\n a sand-storm against you? then ye would not find for you any\n defender.\n Or are ye sure that He will not turn you back again to sea, and\n send against you a storm of wind and drown you, because ye were\n thankless? Then shall ye find for yourselves no helper against us.\n And we have honoured the sons of Adam; and we have borne them on\n the land and on the sea, and have fed them with good things, and\n distinguished them above many of our creatures.\n\n On a day we will summon all men with their scripture: then whoso is\n given his book into his right hand,--these shall read their book\n and not be wronged a whit.\n And he who has been blind in this life shall be blind in the life\n to come, and miss the road yet more.\n And verily they had well-nigh tempted thee from what we revealed to\n thee, to forge against us something false; and then they would\n have taken thee to friend;\n And had we not prevented thee, thou hadst well-nigh inclined to\n them a little:\n In that case we would have made thee to taste of torment double in\n life and double in death, then should\u2019st thou find for thyself no\n helper against us.\n And they well-nigh frightened thee from the land, to drive thee out\n of it; but if they had, they should only have tarried a little\n while behind thee.\n [This was our] custom with our apostles whom we sent before thee,\n and thou shalt find no changing in our custom.\n\n Perform prayer from the setting of the sun till the fall of night,\n and the recital at dawn,--verily the recital at dawn is witnessed:\n And watch thou part of the night as a voluntary service; it may be\n that thy Lord will raise thee to a place of praise:\n And say: O my Lord, cause me to enter with a right entry, and to\n come forth with a right forthcoming, and grant me from thyself a\n power of defence.\n And say: Truth is come and falsehood is fled away: verily falsehood\n is a fleeting thing.\n\n And we send down from the Kor\u0101n healing and mercy to the faithful;\n but it shall only add to the ruin of the wicked.\n And when we are gracious to man, he turneth away and standeth\n aloof; but when evil touches him he is in despair.\n Say: Every one doeth after his own fashion, but your Lord knoweth\n perfectly who is best guided on the road.\n And they will ask thee of the Spirit; Say: The Spirit cometh at my\n Lord\u2019s behest, and ye are given but scant knowledge.\n And assuredly, if we pleased we could take away what we have\n revealed to thee: then wouldst thou not find for thyself a\n defender against us,\n Save in mercy from thy Lord; verily His bounty towards thee is\n great.\n Say: Surely if mankind and the Jinn united in order to produce the\n like of this Kor\u0101n, they could not produce its like, though they\n helped one another.\n We have varied every kind of parable for men in this Kor\u0101n, but\n most men consent only to discredit it.\n And they say, \u201cWe will by no means believe in thee till thou makest\n a spring to gush forth for us from the earth;\n Or till there cometh to thee a garden of palm-trees and grapes, and\n thou makest rivers to gush forth abundantly in its midst;\n Or thou make the heaven to fall down in pieces upon us, as thou\n pretendest; or bring God and the angels before us;\n Or thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend up into Heaven; and we\n will not believe in thy ascent until thou send down to us a book\n which we may read.\u201d Say: Extolled be the glory of my Lord! Am I\n aught save a man, a messenger?\n And nothing prevented men from believing, when the guidance came to\n them, but their saying, \u201cHath God sent a mere man as a messenger?\u201d\n Say: Had there been angels upon the earth walking at ease, we had\n surely sent them an angel from heaven as an apostle.\n Say: God is witness enough between me and you: verily He knoweth\n and seeth His servants.\n And whom God guideth, he is guided, and whom He misleadeth, thou\n shalt find him no protectors beside Him; and we will gather them\n on the day of Resurrection upon their faces, blind, and dumb, and\n deaf, hell is their abode; so oft as its fire dieth down, we will\n stir up the flame.\n This is their reward, for that they believed not our signs, and\n said, \u201cWhen we are become bones and dust, shall we indeed be\n raised a new creature?\u201d\n Do they not see that God, who created the heavens and the earth is\n able to create their likes? and He hath made an appointed term\n for them: there is no doubt of it; but the wicked consent only to\n deny it!\n Say: If ye possessed the treasures of the mercy of thy Lord, ye\n would then assuredly keep them, in fear of spending: for man is\n niggardly.\n\n Heretofore We brought to Moses nine evident signs: Ask then the\n Children of Israel [the story]--when he came unto them, and\n Pharaoh said unto him, \u201cVerily I consider thee to be bewitched, O\n Moses.\u201d\n He said, \u201cThou knowest that none hath sent these down as proofs\n but the Lord of the heavens and the earth; and verily I consider\n thee, O Pharaoh, accursed.\u201d\n So he sought to drive them out of the land; but we drowned him and\n those with him, every one.\n And after this we said to the Children of Israel, \u201cDwell ye in the\n land, and when the promise of the life to come befalleth, we will\n bring you in a troop to judgment.\u201d\n And in truth have we sent down [the Kor\u0101n], and in truth came it\n down, and we have sent thee only to give good tidings and to warn.\n And the Kor\u0101n have we divided that thou mayest recite it unto men\n by degrees; and we have sent it down by [separate] sendings.\n Say: Believe ye therein or believe ye not;--those verily to whom\n knowledge hath been given before, when it is told to them, fall\n down on their faces in adoration, and say, \u201cExtolled be the glory\n of our Lord! verily the promise of our Lord is accomplished.\u201d\n And they fall down upon their faces weeping, and it increaseth\n their humility.\n\n Say: Call upon God, or call upon the Merciful, whichever ye call\n Him by; for His are the goodliest names. And be not loud in thy\n prayer, nor yet mutter it low; but follow a course between.\n And Say: Praise be to God who hath not taken a son, and who hath no\n partner in the Kingdom, and no protector hath He for abasement;\n and glorify Him gloriously.\n\n (xvii.)\n\n\n\n\n THE SPEECHES AT MEKKA\n\n III. THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD\n\n _Aet._ 46-53\n A.D. 615-622\n\n\n\n\nTHE BELIEVER.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n H. M. The revelation of the Book is from God the Mighty, the Wise,\n Forgiver of sin, and accepter of repentance,--heavy in punishment,\n Long-suffering: there is no God but He, to whom is your journeying.\n None dispute about the signs of God save those who disbelieve; but\n let not their trafficking in the land deceive thee.\n Before them the people of Noah, and the allies after them, denied,\n and every folk hath purposed against its apostle to overmaster\n him, and they argued with falsehood to rebut the truth therewith;\n but I did overmaster them and how great was my punishment!\n And thus was the sentence of thy Lord accomplished upon those who\n disbelieved, that they should be inmates of the Fire!\n\n They that bear the Throne and they that are round about it magnify\n the praise of their Lord and believe in Him and beg forgiveness\n for those who believe:--\u201cO our Lord! thou embracest all things in\n mercy and knowledge, give pardon to those who repent and follow\n thy path, and keep them from the torment of hell,\n O our Lord, and bring them into the gardens of eternity which thou\n hast promised to them and to the just among their fathers and\n their wives and their offspring; verily thou art the Mighty, the\n Wise;\n And keep them from evil; for he whom thou keepest from evil on that\n day, on him hast thou had mercy--and that is the great prize!\u201d\n\n Verily to those who disbelieve shall come a voice, \u201cSurely the\n hatred of God is greater than your hatred among yourselves, when\n ye are called to the faith, and disbelieve.\u201d\n They shall say, \u201cO our Lord, twice hast thou given us death, and\n twice hast thou given us life: and we acknowledge our sins: is\n there then a way to escape?\u201d--\n \u201cThat hath befallen you because when one God was proclaimed, ye\n disbelieved: but when Partners were ascribed to Him, ye believed:\n but judgment belongeth unto God, the High, the Great.\u201d\n It is He who showeth you His signs, and sendeth down to you\n provision from heaven: but none mindeth except the repentant.\n\n Then call on God with due obedience, though loth be the infidels;\n Of high degree, Lord of the throne; He sendeth down the Spirit at\n His will upon whom He pleaseth of His servants to warn men of the\n day of the Tryst:--\n The day when they shall come forth, and when nothing of theirs\n shall be hidden from God. Whose is the kingship on that day? It\n is God\u2019s, the One, the Conqueror!\n The day every soul shall be rewarded for what it hath earned: no\n injustice shall there be on that day! Verily God is swift to\n reckon.\n And warn them of the approaching Day, when their hearts shall choke\n in their throats,\n When the wicked have no friend nor intercessor to prevail.\n He knoweth the deceitful of eye, and what the breast concealeth,\n And God judgeth with truth; but those gods whom they call on beside\n Him cannot judge aught. Verily it is God that heareth and seeth!\n\n Have they not journeyed in the earth, and seen what was the end\n of those who were before them? Those were mightier than they in\n strength, and in their footprints on the earth: but God overtook\n them in their sins, and there was none to keep them from God.\n That was because apostles had come to them with manifestations, and\n they believed not: but God overtook them; verily He is strong and\n heavy in punishment.\n\n We sent Moses of old with our signs and with plain authority,\n To Pharaoh, and Haman, and Korah: and they said, \u201cA lying wizard.\u201d\n And when he came to them with truth from us they said, \u201cSlay the\n sons of those who believe with them, and spare their women;\u201d but\n the plot of the unbelievers was at fault:\n And Pharaoh said, \u201cLet me alone to kill Moses; and let him call\n upon his Lord: verily I fear lest he change your religion, or\n cause iniquity in the earth.\u201d\n And Moses said, \u201cVerily I take refuge with my Lord and your\n Lord from every one puffed up who believeth not in the day of\n reckoning.\u201d\n And there spake a man of the family of Pharaoh, a BELIEVER, who\n concealed his faith, \u201cWill ye kill a man because he saith my Lord\n is God, when he hath come unto you with manifestations from your\n Lord? for if he be a liar, upon him alone is his lie, but if he\n be a man of truth, somewhat of that which he threateneth will\n befall you. Verily God guideth not him who is an outrageous liar.\n O my people, to-day is the kingdom yours who are uppermost in the\n earth! but who will defend us against the might of God if it come\n upon us?\u201d Pharaoh said, \u201cI will only show you what I think, and I\n will not guide you save in a right way.\u201d\n Then said he who believed, \u201cO my people, verily I fear for you the\n like of the day of the allies,\n The like of the state of the people of Noah, and Ad, and Tham\u016bd,\n And of those who came after them; and God willeth not injustice to\n His servants.\n And, O my people! verily I fear for you the day of crying out:\n The day when ye shall turn your backs in flight, ye shall have no\n protector against God; and he whom God misleads, no guide has he.\n Moreover, Joseph came unto you before with manifestations; but ye\n ceased not to doubt about [the message] he brought you, until\n when he died ye said, \u2018God will by no means send an apostle after\n him.\u2019 Thus God misleadeth him who is an outrageous doubter.\n They who dispute about the signs of God, and no proof coming to\n them, are very hateful to God and to those who believe. Thus God\n sealeth the heart of all who are puffed up and arrogant.\u201d\n And Pharaoh said, \u201cO Haman, build me a tower, mayhap I shall reach\n the avenues,\n The avenues of the heavens, and may ascend to the God of Moses: but\n verily I hold him a liar.\u201d\n And thus the wickedness of his deed seemed good to Pharaoh, and he\n was turned away from the right path; but the plot of Pharaoh only\n came to ruin.\n And he who believed said, \u201cO my people, follow me: I will guide you\n the right way.\n O my people, the life of this world is but a passing joy; but the\n life to come, that is the abode imperishable.\n Whosoever doeth evil shall not be rewarded save with its like;\n and whosoever doeth right, whether male or female, being a\n believer--these shall enter paradise; and be provided therein\n without count.\n And O my people! how is it that I bid you to salvation, but that ye\n bid me to the Fire?\n Ye call me to disbelieve in God and join to Him that of which\n I have no knowledge: and I call you to the Mighty, the Very\n Forgiving.\n There is no doubt but that those ye call me to are not to be called\n on in this world or in the world to come, and that we shall\n return unto God, and the transgressors shall be inmates of the\n Fire.\n Then shall ye call to mind what I said to you: and I commit my case\n to God: verily God regardeth His servants.\u201d\n So God kept him from the evil which they devised, and there\n encompassed the people of Pharaoh the woeful torment--\n The Fire, to which they shall be exposed morning and evening; and\n on the day when the Hour cometh--\u201cEnter, ye people of Pharaoh,\n into the sorest torment.\u201d\n And when they shall wrangle together in the fire, the feeble shall\n say to those who were puffed up, \u201cVerily we followed you: will ye\n then remove from us aught of the Fire?\u201d\n And those who were puffed up will say, \u201cVerily we are all in it.\n Behold! God hath judged between His servants.\u201d\n And they who are in the Fire shall say to the keepers of Hell,\n \u201cCall on your Lord, that He remit us one day from the torment.\u201d\n The keepers shall say, \u201cDid there not come to you your apostles\n with manifestations?\u201d They shall say, \u201cYea.\u201d The keepers shall\n say, \u201cCall then,\u201d but the cry of the unbelievers shall be vain.\n\n Verily we will help our apostles and those who believe, both in the\n life of this world and on the day when the witness shall stand\n forth;--\n A day whereon the excuse of the wicked shall not profit them; but\n they shall have the curse and the abode of woe.\n And of old gave we Moses the guidance, and the Children of Israel\n made we heirs of the Book,--a guidance and a warning to those who\n have understanding.\n Be patient, therefore; verily the promise of God is true; and seek\n pardon for thy sins, and magnify the praises of thy Lord at eve\n and early morn.\n Verily those who dispute about the signs of God, without proof\n reaching them, there is naught in their breasts but pride: and\n they shall not win. But seek refuge with God; verily, He heareth\n and seeth.\n\n Surely the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than\n the creation of man. But most men do not know.\n Moreover the blind and the seeing are not equal, nor the sinner and\n they who believe and do the things that are right;--little do\n they mind!\n Verily the Hour is assuredly coming: there is no doubt of it;--but\n most men do not believe.\n And your Lord saith, \u201cCall upon me;--I will hearken unto you: but\n as to those who are too puffed up for my service, they shall\n enter Hell in contempt.\u201d\n\n It is God who made you the night to rest in, and the day for\n seeing: verily God is bounteous to man, but most men are not\n thankful.\n That is God your Lord, Creator of all things: there is no god but\n He: then why do ye turn away?\n Thus do they turn away who gainsay the signs of God--\n God, who made you the earth for a resting-place and the heaven for\n a tent, and formed you and made goodly your forms and provided\n you with good things--that is God, your Lord.\n Then blessed be God, the Lord of the worlds!\n He is the Living One. No god is there but He! then call upon Him,\n purifying your service to Him. Praise be to God, the Lord of the\n worlds!\n Say: Verily I am forbidden to serve those whom ye call on beside\n God, since there came to me manifestations from my Lord, and I am\n bidden to resign myself to the Lord of the worlds.\n He it is who created you of dust, then of a germ, then of blood;\n then bringeth you forth a babe: then ye come to your strength,\n then ye become old men (but some of you die before) and reach the\n appointed term: haply ye will understand!\n It is He who giveth life and death; and when He decreeth a thing,\n He only saith to it, \u201cBe,\u201d and it is.\n\n Hast thou not beheld those who cavil at the signs of God, how they\n are turned aside?\n They who call the Book, and that with which we have sent our\n apostles, a lie: they shall soon know!\n When the shackles shall be on their necks, and the chains, whilst\n they are dragged into Hell--then in the fire shall they be\n burned--\n Then shall it be said to them, \u201cWhere is that which ye joined in\n worship beside God?\u201d They shall say, \u201cThey are lost to us, Nay!\n we did not call before upon anything.\u201d Thus God misleadeth the\n unbelievers.\n \u201cThat is because ye exulted on earth in what was not true, and\n because ye were insolent.\u201d\n Enter the gates of Hell to abide therein for ever: and wretched is\n the abode of the proud!\n\n But be thou patient: verily the promise of God is true: and whether\n we show thee part of what we threatened them, or whether we make\n thee to die; yet to us shall they return.\n We have sent apostles before thee. Of some we have told thee and\n of some we have not told thee: but no apostle was able to bring\n a sign unless by the permission of God. But when God\u2019s behest\n cometh, everything is decided with truth: and those perish who\n think it vain.\n\n It is God who hath made for you the cattle, some to ride and some\n to eat,\n (And ye have profit from them) and to attain by them the aims of\n your hearts, for on them and in ships are ye borne:\n And He showeth you His signs: which then of the signs of God will\n ye deny?\n Have they not journeyed in the earth, and seen what was the end of\n those who were before them? They were in number more than they,\n and mightier in strength, and in their footprints on the earth:\n but what they had earned availed them nothing;\n And when their apostles came to them with manifestations, they\n exulted in what knowledge they had; but that which they had\n scoffed at encompassed them.\n And when they beheld our might they said, \u201cWe believe in God alone,\n and we disbelieve in what we joined in worship with Him.\u201d\n And naught availed their faith, after they witnessed our might.\n Such the way of God which was reserved for his servants--and\n therein the unbelievers have lost.\n\n (xl.)\n\n\n\n\nJONAH.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n A. L. R. These are the signs of the wise Book!\n Is it a matter of wonder to the people that we revealed to a man\n from among themselves, \u201cWarn the people; and bring good tidings\n to those who believe, that the reward of their good faith is\n with their Lord?\u201d The unbelievers say, \u201cLo! this is an evident\n sorcerer!\u201d\n\n Verily your Lord is God, who made the heavens and the earth in six\n days--then ascended the throne to govern all things: there is\n none to plead with Him save by His permission.--This is God, your\n Lord! then worship ye Him: will ye not mind?\n Unto Him shall ye all return by the sure promise of God: behold!\n He produces a creature, then maketh it return again, that He may\n reward with equity those who believe and do the things that are\n right: but those who believe not, for them is the scalding drink,\n and an aching torment--because they did not believe.\n It is He who hath made the sun for shining, and the moon for light,\n and ordained him mansions that ye may learn the number of years\n and the reckoning of time. God did not create that but in truth.\n He maketh His signs plain to a people who know.\n Verily in the alterations of the night and the day, and in all\n that God created in the heavens and the earth, are signs to a\n godfearing folk.\n\n Verily they who do not hope to meet us, and are satisfied with the\n life of this world, and are content with it, and they who are\n careless of our signs,--\n Their dwelling-place is the Fire, for what they have earned.\n Verily they who believe and do the things that are right, their\n Lord shall guide them because of their faith; beneath them rivers\n shall flow in gardens of delight:\n Their cry therein shall be, \u201cExtolled be thy glory, O God!\u201d and\n their salutation therein shall be \u201cPeace!\u201d\n And the end of their cry shall be, \u201cPraise to God, Lord of the\n worlds!\u201d\n And if God should hasten woe upon men as they fain would hasten\n weal, verily their appointed term is decreed for them! therefore\n we leave those who hope not to meet us groping in their\n disobedience.\n Moreover, when affliction toucheth man, he calleth us upon his\n side, sitting, or standing; and when we take away his affliction\n from him, he passeth on as though he had not called us in the\n affliction that touched him! Thus do the deeds of transgressors\n seem good to them!\n We have destroyed generations before you, when they sinned and\n their apostles came to them with manifestations and they would\n not believe;--thus do we requite the sinful folk.\n Then we made you their successors in the earth after them, to see\n how ye would act.\n But when our manifest signs are recited to them, they who hope not\n to meet us say, \u201cBring a different Kor\u0101n from this, or change\n it.\u201d Say: It is not for me to change it of mine own will. I\n follow only what is revealed to me: verily I fear if I disobey my\n Lord the torment of the great Day.\n Say: If God pleased, I had not recited it to you nor taught it you;\n and already I had dwelt a lifetime amongst you before that: have\n ye then no wits?\n And who is more wicked than he who forgeth a lie against God, or\n saith His signs are lies? Surely the sinners shall not prosper!\n And they worship beside God that which cannot hurt them or help\n them; and they say, \u201cThese shall be our pleaders with God.\u201d Say:\n Will ye tell God of anything He doth not know in the heavens and\n in the earth? Extolled be His glory! and far be He above what\n they associate with Him!\n Men were of only one religion: then they differed, and had not a\n decree gone forth from thy Lord, there had certainly been made a\n decision between them of that whereon they differed.\n And they say, \u201cHad a sign been sent down to him from his Lord\n ...\u201d--but say: The unseen is with God alone: wait, therefore;\n verily I am waiting with you.\n And when we caused men to taste of mercy after affliction had\n touched them, behold! they have a plot against our signs! Say:\n God is quick at plotting! verily our messengers write down what\n ye plot.\n\n He it is who maketh you journey by land and sea, until, when ye are\n in ships--and they run with them before a fair wind, and they\n rejoice thereat, there cometh upon them a violent wind, and the\n waves come upon them from every side, and they suppose they are\n sore pressed therewith; they call on God, offering Him sincere\n religion:--\u201cDo thou but deliver us from this, and we will indeed\n be of the thankful.\u201d\n But when we have delivered them, lo, they transgress unjustly on\n the earth! O ye people! ye wrong your own souls only for the\n enjoyment of the life of this world: then to us shall ye return;\n and we will tell you what ye have done.\n\n The likeness of the life of this world is as the water which we\n send down from the heaven, and there mingleth with it the produce\n of the earth of which men and cattle eat, until when the earth\n hath put on its blazonry and is arrayed, and its inhabitants\n think it is they who ordain it, our command cometh to it by\n night or day, and we make it mown down, as if it had not teemed\n yesterday! Thus do we explain our signs to a reflecting folk.\n\n And God calleth you unto the abode of peace: and guideth whom He\n will into the straight way:\n To those who have done well, weal and to spare,\n Neither blackness shall cover their faces nor shame! these are the\n inmates of Paradise, to abide therein for ever.\n And as for those who have earned evil, the recompense of evil is\n its like; shame shall cover them--no defender shall they have\n against God--as though their faces were darkened with the gloom\n of night: these are the inmates of the Fire to abide therein for\n ever.\n And on the day we will gather them all together, then will we say\n to those who made Partners with God, \u201cTo your place, ye and your\n Partners!\u201d and we will separate between them; and their partners\n shall say, \u201cYe worshipped not us,\n And God is witness enough between us and you that we were\n indifferent to your worship!\u201d\n Then shall every soul make proof of what it hath sent on before,\n and they shall be brought back to God their true Master, and what\n they devised shall vanish from them.\n\n Say: Who provideth you from the heaven and the earth? who is king\n over hearing and sight? and who bringeth forth the living from\n the dead and bringeth forth the dead from the living? and who\n ruleth all things? And they shall say, \u201cGod:\u201d then say: Do ye not\n fear?\n So that is God your true Lord: and after the truth, what is there\n but error? How then are ye turned away?\n Thus is the word of thy Lord fulfilled upon those who work\n iniquity: they shall not believe.\n Say: Is there any of the Partners [of God] who can produce a\n creature, then bring it back again? Say: God produceth a creature\n then bringeth it back again: how then are ye deceived?\n Say: Is there any of the Partners who guideth to the truth? Say:\n God guideth unto the truth. Is he who guideth to the truth the\n worthier to be followed, or he who guideth not except he be\n guided? What is in you so to judge?\n And most of them only follow a fancy: but a fancy profiteth nothing\n against the truth! verily God knoweth what they do.\n\n Moreover this Kor\u0101n could not have been devised without God: but it\n confirmeth what preceded it, and explaineth the Scripture--there\n is no doubt therein--from the Lord of the worlds.\n Do they say, \u201cHe hath devised it himself?\u201d Say: Then bring a\n chapter like it: and call on whom ye can beside God, if ye be\n speakers of truth.\n Nay, they call all that a lie, of which they compass not the\n knowledge, though the explanation of it hath not yet been given\n them; so did those who were before them call the Scriptures lies:\n but see what was the end of the wicked!\n And some of them believe in it, and some of them believe not in it.\n But thy Lord knoweth best about the evildoers.\n And if they call thee a liar, say, I have my work, and ye have your\n work: ye are clear of what I work, and I am clear of what ye work.\n And some of them hearken to thee; but canst thou make the deaf hear\n if they have no wits?\n And some of them regard thee; but canst thou guide the blind when\n they see not?\n Verily God doth not wrong man a whit, but men wrong themselves.\n\n And on a day He will gather them, as though they had tarried but an\n hour of the day: they shall know one another! They are lost who\n denied the meeting with God and were not guided!\n Whether we show thee part of what we threatened against them,\n or whether we take thee to ourself [before], to us is their\n return--then shall God be witness of what they have done.\n And every nation hath its apostle; and when their apostle is come,\n it is decided between them with equity, and they are not wronged.\n Yet they say, \u201cWhen will this promise be, if ye be speakers of\n truth?\u201d\n Say: I have no power for myself for woe or weal, except as God\n pleaseth. Every people hath its appointed term: when their term\n is come, they shall not put it off nor hasten it an hour.\n Say: Bethink ye, if the torment of God come upon you by night or by\n day, what portion of it will the sinners willingly hasten on?\n When it happeneth, will ye believe it then? Yet would ye fain\n hasten it on!\n Then shall it be said to those who transgressed, \u201cTaste ye the\n torment of eternity! Shall ye be rewarded save according to what\n ye have earned?\u201d\n They would fain know of thee if this is true. Say: Yea, by my Lord,\n it is indeed true, and ye cannot weaken Him.\n And if every soul that transgressed owned all that is on earth, he\n would assuredly give it in ransom; and they will declare their\n repentance when they have seen the torment: and there shall be a\n decision between them with equity, and they shall not be wronged.\n Is not indeed whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth God\u2019s? Is\n not indeed the promise of God true? But most of them do not know!\n He giveth life and death, and to Him shall ye return.\n\n O ye people! now hath a warning come to you from your Lord, and a\n healing for what is in your breasts, and a guidance and a mercy\n to the believers.\n Say: By the grace of God and his mercy! And in that let them\n therefore rejoice: this is better than what they heap up.\n Say: Do ye consider what God hath sent down to you for provision:\n but ye made thereof unlawful and lawful? Say, did God permit you?\n or do ye forge against God?\n But what will they think on the day of resurrection who forge a lie\n against God? Truly God is full of bounty towards man; but most of\n them are not thankful.\n Thou shalt not be in any business, and thou shalt not read from the\n Kor\u0101n, and ye shall not do any deed, but we are witness against\n you when ye are engaged therein; and there escapeth not thy Lord\n an ant\u2019s weight in earth or in heaven: and there is nothing\n lesser or greater than that, but it is in the plain Book.\n Are not they truly the friends of God on whom is no fear neither\n are they sorrowful--\n They who believed and feared God,--\n For them are good tidings in the life of this world, and in the\n life to come there is no changing in God\u2019s sentences. That is the\n great prize!\n\n And let not their discourse grieve thee: verily all power belongeth\n to God, He it is who heareth and knoweth.\n Doth not whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the earth\n belong to God? then what do they follow who call upon Partners\n beside God? verily they follow but a fancy; and verily they are\n naught but liars.\n It is He who made you the night to rest in, and the day for seeing:\n verily in that are signs to a folk that can hear!\n\n They say, \u201cGod hath taken him a son.\u201d Extolled be his glory! He is\n the Self-sufficient, all that is in the heavens, and all that\n is in the earth is his! ye have no warranty for this! do ye say\n about God that which ye know not?\n Say: Verily they who forge this lie against God shall not prosper:--\n A passing joy in this world, then to us they return; and then we\n will make them taste the grievous torment, because they did not\n believe.\n\n And tell them the story of Noah, when he said to his people,--\u201cO\n my people! though my dwelling with you and my warning you of the\n signs of God hath been grievous to you, yet in God do I put my\n trust: so gather together your case and your Partners; then will\n not your case fall upon you in the dark: then decide about me and\n delay not.\n And if ye turn, yet ask I no reward from you: my reward is with God\n alone, and I am commanded to be of those who are resigned.\u201d\n But they called him a liar, so we delivered him and those who were\n with him in the ship, and we made them to survive; and we drowned\n those who had called our signs lies: see then what was the end of\n those who were warned!\n\n Then after him, we sent apostles to their people, and they came to\n them with manifestations: but they would not believe in what they\n had denied before: thus do we put a seal upon the hearts of the\n transgressors.\n Then sent we, after them, Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and his nobles\n with our signs; but they were puffed up and were a sinful folk.\n And when the truth came to them from us, they said, \u201cThis is clear\n sorcery indeed.\u201d\n Moses said, \u201cSay ye of the truth when it is come to you, Is this\n sorcery?--but sorcerers shall not prosper.\u201d\n They said, \u201cArt thou come to us to hinder us from what we found\n our fathers in, and in order that for you twain there shall be\n majesty in the land? but we are not going to believe in you!\u201d\n And Pharaoh said, \u201cFetch me every wise sorcerer.\u201d And when the\n sorcerers came, Moses said to them, \u201cCast down what ye have to\n cast.\u201d\n And when they had cast them down, Moses said, \u201cWhat ye come with is\n sorcery: verily God will make it vain; aye, God doth not prosper\n the work of evildoers;\n And God will establish the truth by his word, though loth be the\n sinners.\u201d\n And none believed in Moses but the children of his own folk, for\n fear of Pharaoh and his nobles, lest he should afflict them: for\n of a truth Pharaoh was mighty in the earth, and verily he was of\n the transgressors.\n And Moses said, \u201cO my people! if ye believe in God, put your trust\n in Him, if ye are resigned.\u201d\n And they said, \u201cIn God do we put our trust. O our Lord, make us not\n a trial to the folk of the wicked,\n And deliver us in Thy mercy from the folk of the unbelievers.\u201d\n Then revealed we to Moses and to his brother: \u201cBuild houses for\n your people in Egypt, and make your houses with a Kibla, and\n perform prayer, and give good tidings to the believers.\u201d\n And Moses said, \u201cO our Lord, thou hast indeed given to Pharaoh and\n his nobles adornments and riches in the life of this world: O\n our Lord! may they err from thy way; O our Lord, confound their\n riches, and harden their hearts, so shall they not believe until\n they see the aching torment.\u201d\n God said: \u201cYour prayer is heard, then stand ye upright, and follow\n not the path of those who know not.\u201d\n And we brought the Children of Israel across the sea; and Pharaoh\n and his host followed them, eager and hostile, until when\n drowning overtook him he said, \u201cI believe that there is no God\n but He in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am one of\n the resigned.\u201d\n \u201cNow! thou hast been rebellious aforetime, and wast one of the\n evildoers,\n This day will we raise thee in thy flesh, to be a sign to those who\n come after thee: but verily many men are heedless of our signs!\u201d\n Moreover we lodged the Children of Israel in a firm abode, and\n provided them with good things: and they did not differ until the\n knowledge came to them; verily thy Lord will decide between them\n on the Day of Resurrection concerning that on which they differed.\n\n And if thou art in doubt of what we have sent down to thee, inquire\n of those who read the Scriptures before thee. Now hath truth come\n unto thee from thy Lord: then be not thou of those who doubt,\n Neither be of those who deny the signs of God lest thou be among\n the losers.\n Verily they against whom the word of thy Lord is passed shall not\n believe,--\n Though there came unto them every kind of sign,--till they behold\n the aching torment.\n Else any city had believed, and its faith had benefited it:--save\n the people of JONAH; when they believed, we took away from them\n the torment of shame in the life of this world, and provided for\n them awhile.\n But if thy Lord pleased, verily all who are in the earth had\n believed together. Then canst thou compel men to become believers?\n It is not in a soul to believe but by the permission of God: and He\n shall lay His curse on those who have no wits.\n Say: Look upon that which is in the heavens and in the earth: but\n signs and warners avail not a folk that will not believe!\n What then can they expect but the like of the days of those who\n passed away before them? Say: Wait ye,--I too am waiting with you.\n Then will we deliver our apostles and those who believe: thus is it\n binding on us to deliver the faithful.\n Say: O ye people! if ye are in doubt of my religion, I do not\n worship those whom ye worship beside God; but I worship God, who\n taketh you away; and I am commanded to be of the faithful.\n And set thy face towards religion as a Han\u012bf, and be not of those\n idolaters:\n And invoke not beside God that which can neither help nor hurt; for\n if thou do, thou wilt certainly be of the wicked.\n And if God touch thee with affliction, there is none to remove it\n but He. And if He desire thy good, there is none to hinder His\n bounty--He will confer it on whom He pleaseth of his servants:\n and He is the Forgiving, the Merciful!\n Say: O ye people! now hath truth come unto you from your Lord; then\n he who is guided, is guided only for his own behoof: but he who\n erreth doth err only against himself; and I am no governor over\n you!\n And follow what is revealed to thee: and be patient till God\n judgeth; and He is the best of judges.\n\n (x.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE THUNDER.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n A. L. M. R. These are the Signs of the Book! and that which was\n sent down to thee from thy Lord is the truth: but most men do not\n believe.\n It is God who raised the heavens without pillars that ye can see;\n then ascended the Throne, and subdued the sun and the moon: each\n runneth to its appointed goal, to rule every thing, to manifest\n signs. Haply ye will be convinced of meeting your Lord!\n And it is He who spread out the earth, and put thereon firm\n mountains, and rivers; and of every fruit He hath made therein\n two kinds: He maketh the night to cover the day; verily in that\n are signs for reflecting folk.\n And on the earth are neighbouring tracts, and gardens of grapes,\n and corn, and palms clustered and not clustered at the root;\n they are watered by the same water, yet we make some better than\n others for food: verily in that are signs for folk that have\n wits.\n If ever thou dost wonder, wonderful is their saying, \u201cWhat! when we\n have become dust, shall we indeed become a new creation?\u201d\n These are they who disbelieve in their Lord: and these shall have\n the shackles on their necks, and these shall be the inmates of\n the fire to abide therein for ever.\n They will bid thee hasten evil rather than good: examples have\n passed away before them; and verily thy Lord is full of\n forgiveness unto men despite their iniquity; and verily thy Lord\n is heavy in punishing.\n And they who disbelieve say, \u201cUnless a sign be sent down to him\n from his Lord ...\u201d Thou art but a warner, and to every people its\n guide.\n God knoweth what every woman beareth, and the decrease of the wombs\n and the increase; for the pattern of all things is with Him,\n Who knoweth the hidden and the seen, the Great, the Most High.\n Equal is he of you who concealeth his words and he that proclaimeth\n them: he who hideth by night, and he who goeth abroad by day.\n Each hath angels before him and behind him, who watch over him by\n God\u2019s command. Verily God doth not change towards a people, till\n they change themselves; and when God willeth evil unto a people,\n there is no averting it, nor have they any protector beside Him.\n\n It is He who showeth you the lightning for fear and hope [of rain],\n and gathereth the lowering clouds,\n And the THUNDER magnifieth His praise, and the angels, for awe of\n Him, and He sendeth His thunderbolts and smiteth therewith whom\n He pleaseth:--and they are wrangling about God! but strong is His\n might!\n Unto Him is the true cry: but those whom they cry to beside Him\n shall answer them naught save as one who stretcheth forth his\n hands to the water that it may reach his mouth, but it doth not\n reach it! The cry of the unbelievers is but in error.\n And unto God bow down all things in the heavens and the earth,\n willingly or unwillingly, and their shadows at morn and eve!\n\n Say: Who is Lord of the heavens and the earth? Say: God. Say: Why\n then have ye taken beside Him Patrons who are powerless for weal\n or woe to themselves? Say: What! are the blind and the seeing\n alike? or are darkness and light the same? or have they made\n Partners for God, who create as He creates, so that they confuse\n the creation? Say: God is the Creator of all things, He is the\n One, the Conqueror.\n He sendeth down water from heaven; and the valleys flow in their\n degree, and the torrent beareth along foaming froth, and from\n the [ore] which they burn in the fire, desiring ornaments or\n necessaries, a scum like it ariseth. So doth God liken truth and\n falsehood. As to the scum it passeth off as refuse, and as to\n what profiteth man it remaineth on the earth. Thus doth God frame\n parables. For those who respond to their Lord, good; but those\n who respond not to Him, had they all that the earth containeth\n and its like beside it, they would surely give it in ransom:\n these shall have an evil reckoning, and Hell shall be their\n home,--and wretched the bed!\n Is he who knoweth that what hath been sent down to thee from thy\n Lord is naught but the truth, like to him who is blind? but men\n of understanding alone will mind,\n Who fulfil their covenant with God and break not the compact;\n And who join what God hath bidden to be joined, and who fear their\n Lord and dread the evil reckoning;\n And who are patient, seeking the face of their Lord, and perform\n prayer and give alms secretly and openly of what we have provided\n them, and turn away evil with good: for these is the reward of\n the Abode,--\n Gardens of eternity, into which they shall enter together with\n those who were just of their fathers and their wives and their\n offspring: and the angels shall go in unto them at every gate\n [saying]:--\n \u201cPeace be upon you! because ye were patient.\u201d And pleasant is the\n reward of the Abode!\n But those who break God\u2019s covenant after they have pledged it, and\n cut asunder what God hath bidden to be joined, and work iniquity\n in the earth, for these is a curse and a sore abode!\n\n God is lavish with provision to whom He pleaseth, or He stinteth\n it. And they rejoice in the life of this world; but the life of\n this world is but a passing joy to the life to come.\n And they who disbelieve say, \u201cUnless a sign be sent down to him\n from his Lord ...\u201d Say: God truly misleadeth whom He will; and He\n guideth to himself those who repent,\n Who believe, and whose hearts are at peace in the remembrance of\n God! yea, in the remembrance of God shall the hearts be at peace\n of those who believe and do the things that are right--good\n betide them, and happy be their goal!\n Thus have we sent thee among a nation, before whom other nations\n have passed away, that thou mayest tell them what we have\n inspired thee with: yet they disbelieve in the Merciful! Say: He\n is my Lord--there is no God but Him. In Him do I put my trust,\n and unto Him is my return.\n Though there were a Kor\u0101n by which the mountains were removed or\n the earth cloven or the dead given speech--Nay! to God belongeth\n the rule in all: know not they who believe, that if God pleased,\n He would certainly have guided men in all?\n\n And calamity shall not cease to befal the unbelievers for what they\n have done, or settle hard by their dwellings, until the promise\n of God shall come to pass. Verily God will not fail in what He\n promised.\n Before thee apostles have been mocked at--and long I suffered those\n who disbelieved; then I took hold of them; and how great was my\n punishment!\n Who then is he that is standing over every soul to mark what it\n hath earned? Yet they made Partners with God! Say: Name them!\n could ye inform him of what He knoweth not in the earth, or are\n they aught beyond words? Nay, their artifice commended itself to\n those who disbelieve; and they are turned aside from the road;\n and whom God misleadeth, he hath no guide.\n Torment is theirs in the life of this world, and assuredly the\n torment of the world to come shall be worse, and they shall have\n no one to ward them from God.\n\n A likeness of the Paradise which is promised to those that fear\n God:--The rivers flow beneath it; its food and its shades are\n everlasting. That is the end of those who fear God: but the end\n of the unbelievers is the Fire.\n\n They to whom we have given the Book rejoice in what hath been sent\n down to thee, yet some of the confederates deny a part of it.\n Say: I am commanded only to worship God, and not to associate any\n with Him: on Him I cry, and unto Him is my goal.\n Thus have we sent down the Kor\u0101n as an Arabic judgment; and\n assuredly, if thou followed their desires after the knowledge had\n come to thee, thou shouldst have no protector nor warder against\n God.\n And we have sent apostles before thee, and gave them wives and\n offspring. But to no apostle was it given to bring a sign save by\n God\u2019s permission: to each age its Book.\n God wipeth out or confirmeth what He pleaseth, and with Him is the\n Mother of the Book.\n And whether we show thee somewhat of that which we promised them,\n or take thee hence before; verily, it is thine to announce only,\n and ours to take account.\n See they not that we come into the land and cut down its chiefs?\n And when God judgeth, there is none to reverse His sentence: and\n He is swift to reckon.\n And those who were before them plotted: but God\u2019s is the master\n plot: He knoweth what every one soul earneth, and the infidels\n shall know for whom is the reward of the abode.\n And those who disbelieve shall say, \u201cThou art not sent from God.\u201d\n Say: God is witness enough between me and you, and he that hath\n knowledge of the Book.\n\n (xii.)\n\n\n\n\n THE SPEECHES OF MEDINA\n\n THE PERIOD OF HARANGUE\n\n _Aet._ 53-63\n A.H. 1-11 = A.D. 622-632\n\n\n\n\nDECEPTION.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n All that is in the heavens, and all that is in the earth,\n magnifieth God: His is the kingdom, His is the praise, and He is\n powerful over all things.\n It is He who hath created you; and one of you is an unbeliever, and\n another a believer; and God seeth what ye do.\n He created the heavens and the earth in truth; and He hath\n fashioned you and made goodly your forms; and to Him is your\n journeying.\n He knoweth what is in the heavens and the earth; and He knoweth\n what ye hide and what ye manifest; and God knoweth well the\n secrets of the breast.\n\n Hath not the story come to you of those who disbelieved aforetime,\n and tasted the evil fruit of their doings, and received an aching\n torment?\n That was because when their apostles had come to them with\n manifestations, they said, \u201cShall mortal men guide us?\u201d And they\n believed not and turned their backs. But God had no need of them;\n and God is Self-sufficient and worthy to be praised!\n The unbelievers pretend that they shall by no means be raised\n again. Say: Nay, by my Lord, but ye shall be raised; then shall\n ye certainly be told of what ye have done: and that is easy with\n God.\n Believe then in God and His Apostle, and in the light which we have\n sent down; for God knoweth perfectly what ye do.\n The day when He shall gather you together for the Day of Assembly,\n that is the day of DECEPTION. And whoso believeth in God and\n doeth that which is right, God shall take away his sins, and He\n will bring him into the gardens beneath which rivers flow, to\n dwell there evermore: that is the great prize!\n But those who believe not, but deny our signs--those shall be the\n inmates of the fire, to dwell therein for ever; and evil is their\n journey.\n There happeneth no misfortune but by God\u2019s permission; and whoso\n believeth in God, He guideth his heart; and God knoweth all\n things.\n Obey God, therefore, and obey the Apostle: but if ye turn away, our\n Apostle is only charged with a plain message:--\n God, there is no God but He! Then in God let the faithful trust.\n O ye who believe! verily in your wives and your children ye have an\n adversary, wherefore beware of them. But if ye relent and pardon\n and forgive, then verily God too is Forgiving and Merciful.\n Your wealth and your children are but a snare: but God, with Him is\n the great reward.\n Then fear God with all your might, and hear and obey, and give\n alms for your own sakes; and whoso is saved from his own\n covetousness,--these it is who prosper.\n If ye lend God a good loan, He will double it to you, and will\n forgive you: for God is Grateful, Mild,\n Knowing the secret and the open; the Mighty, the Wise!\n\n (lxiv.)\n\n\n\n\nIRON.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n All that is in the heavens and the earth magnifieth God, and He is\n the Mighty, the Wise.\n His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, He giveth life and\n giveth death, and He is powerful over all things.\n He is the first and the last, the seen and the unseen, and all\n things doth He know.\n It is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then\n ascended the Throne; He knoweth what goeth into the earth and\n what cometh out of it, and what cometh down from the sky and what\n riseth up into it; and He is with you, wherever ye be; and God\n seeth what ye do.\n His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and to God shall\n all things return.\n He maketh the night to follow the day, and He maketh the day to\n follow the night, and He knoweth the secrets of the breast.\n\n Believe in God and His apostle, and give alms of what He hath made\n you to inherit; for to those of you who believe and give alms\n shall be a great reward.\n What aileth you that ye do not believe in God and His Apostle who\n calleth you to believe in your Lord? He hath already accepted\n your covenant if ye believe.\n It is He who hath sent down to His servant manifest signs to lead\n you from darkness into light: for God is indeed kind and merciful\n towards you.\n And what aileth you that ye give not alms in the path of God, when\n God\u2019s is the heritage of the heavens and the earth? Those of\n you who give before the victory, and fight, shall not be deemed\n equal,--they are of nobler degree than those who give afterwards\n and fight. Yet to all hath God promised the beauteous reward; and\n God knoweth what ye do.\n Who is he who will lend God a good loan?--He will double it for\n him, and his shall be a noble recompense.\n\n The day ye shall see the faithful, men and women, their light\n running in front and on their right hand--\u201cGlad tidings for you\n this day!--gardens whereunder rivers flow, to abide therein for\n ever:\u201d that is the great prize!\n The day when the hypocrites, men and women, will say to those who\n believe, \u201cStay for us, that we may kindle our light from yours.\u201d\n It shall be said, \u201cGo back and find a light.\u201d And there shall\n be set up between them a wall, with a gate in it; and inside,\n within it, shall be Mercy, and outside, in front of it, Torment!\n They shall cry out, \u201cWere we not with you?\u201d The others shall say,\n \u201cYea! but ye fell into temptation, and waited, and doubted, and\n your desires deceived you, till the behest of God came,--and the\n arch-tempter beguiled you from God.\u201d\n And on that day no ransom shall be accepted from you, nor from\n those who disbelieved--your goal is the Fire, which is your\n master; and evil is the journey thereto.\n Hath not the Hour come to those who believe, to humble their hearts\n to the warning of God and the truth which He hath sent down?\n and that they may not be like those who received the Scripture\n aforetime, whose lives were prolonged, but their hearts were\n hardened, and many of them were disobedient.\n Know that God quickeneth the earth after its death: now have we\n made clear to you the signs,--haply ye have wits!\n Verily the charitable, both men and women, and they who lend God\n a good loan, it shall be doubled to them, and theirs shall be a\n noble recompense.\n And they who believe in God and His Apostle, these are the\n truth-tellers and the witnesses before their Lord: they have\n their reward and their light. And they who disbelieve and deny\n our signs--these are the inmates of Hell!\n Know that the life of this world is but a game and pastime and show\n and boast among you; and multiplying riches and children is like\n rain, whose vegetation delighteth the infidels--then they wither\n away, and thou seest them all yellow, and they become chaff. And\n in the life to come is grievous torment,\n Or else forgiveness from God and His approval: but the life of this\n world is naught but a delusive joy.\n Strive together for forgiveness from your Lord and Paradise, whose\n width is as the width of heaven and earth, prepared for those who\n believe in God and in His Apostle. That is the grace of God! who\n giveth it to whom He pleaseth; and God is the fount of boundless\n grace.\n There happeneth no misfortune on the earth or to yourselves, but it\n is written in the Book before we created it: verily that is easy\n to God!--\n That ye may not grieve over what is beyond you, nor exult over what\n cometh to you; for God loveth not any presumptuous boasters,\n Who are covetous and commend covetousness to men. But whoso turneth\n away,--verily God is Rich and worthy to be praised.\n We sent Our Apostles with manifestations, and We sent down by them\n the Book and the Balance, that men might stand upright in equity,\n and We sent down IRON, wherein is great strength and uses for\n men,--and that God might know who would help Him and His Apostles\n in secret: verily God is strong and mighty.\n And we sent Noah and Abraham, and we gave their seed prophecy\n in the Scripture: and some of them are guided, but many are\n disobedient.\n Then we sent our apostles in their footsteps, and we sent Jesus the\n Son of Mary, and gave him the Gospel, and put in the hearts of\n those that follow him kindness and pitifulness; but monkery, they\n invented it themselves! We prescribed it not to them--save only\n to seek the approval of God, but they did not observe this with\n due observance. Yet we gave their reward to those of them that\n believed, but many of them were transgressors.\n O ye who believe, fear God and believe in His Apostle; He will\n give you a double portion of His mercy, and will set you a light\n to walk by, and will forgive you: for God is forgiving and\n merciful:--\n That the People of the Scripture may know that they have not power\n over aught of God\u2019s grace; and that grace is in the hands of God\n alone, who giveth to whom He pleaseth: and God is the fount of\n boundless grace.\n\n (lvii.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE VICTORY.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n Verily we have won for thee a clear VICTORY--\n That God may forgive thee thy former and latter sins, and fulfil\n His grace to thee, and guide thee on the straight way,\n And that God may help thee mightily.\n He it is who sent down peace into the hearts of the faithful, to\n strengthen their faith with faith, (for God\u2019s are the armies of\n the heavens and the earth, and God is All-knowing and Wise:)\n To bring the faithful, men and women, into gardens beneath which\n rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever, and to take away their\n offences; and that is the great prize with God:\n And to torment the hypocrites and the idolaters, men and women, who\n think of God an evil thought; there shall come upon them a turn\n of evil, and God is wroth with them and hath cursed them, and\n hath prepared Hell for them, and evil shall be their journey.\n God\u2019s are the armies of the heavens and the earth, and God is\n Mighty and Wise!\n\n Verily we have sent thee as a witness and a herald of gladness and\n a warner,\n That ye may believe in God and in His Apostle; and may revere Him,\n and honour Him, and magnify Him morning and evening.\n In truth, they who swear fealty to thee, do but swear fealty to\n God: the hand of God is upon their hands! Whosoever therefore\n breaketh it, breaketh it only to his own hurt; but whosoever is\n true to what he hath covenanted with God, He will give him a\n great reward.\n\n The Arabs of the desert who were left behind will say to thee, \u201cOur\n property and our families employed us; so ask pardon for us.\u201d\n They speak with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Say:\n But who can obtain aught for you from God, if He design for you\n harm, or design for you benefit? Nay, God is acquainted with what\n ye do!\n Nay, ye thought that the Apostles and the faithful would not come\n back to their families any more, and that seemed good in your\n hearts, and ye thought an evil thought, and ye are a lost people.\n And whosoever believeth not in God and His Apostle ... verily we\n have made ready a flame for the unbelievers!\n And God\u2019s is the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth; He\n forgiveth whom He will, and He tormenteth whom He will: and God\n is Forgiving, Merciful!\n They who were left behind will say when ye go forth to the spoil\n to take it, \u201cLet us follow you.\u201d They would fain change the Word\n of God. Say: Ye shall by no means follow us; thus hath God said\n already. Then they will say, \u201cNay, ye are jealous of us.\u201d Nay,\n they are men of but little understanding.\n Say to those who were left behind of the Arabs of the desert, Ye\n shall be called out against a people of mighty valour; ye shall\n fight with them, or they shall profess Islam. If, therefore, ye\n obey, God will bring you a goodly reward; but if ye turn your\n backs as ye turned your backs before, He will torment you with\n aching torment.\n For the blind it is no crime, and for the lame no crime, and for\n the sick no crime [to turn the back.] And whoso obeyeth God and\n His Apostle He shall bring him into gardens whereunder rivers\n flow: but whoso turneth his back, He will torment him with aching\n torment.\n\n Well-pleased was God with the believers, when they sware fealty\n to thee under the tree; and He knew what was in their hearts:\n therefore did He send down tranquillity upon them, and rewarded\n them with a victory near at hand,\n And many spoils to take, for God is Mighty and Wise!\n God promised you many spoils to take, and sped this for you; (and\n He held back men\u2019s hands from you, that it might be a sign to the\n faithful, and that He might guide you on the straight way;)\n And other spoils which ye could not take: but now hath God\n compassed it, for God is powerful over all.\n If the unbelievers had fought against you, they would assuredly\n have turned their backs; then would they have met with no\n protector or helper.\n This is God\u2019s way which prevailed before: and no changing wilt thou\n find in God\u2019s way.\n And He it was who held back their hands from you, and your hands\n from them, in the valley of Mekka, after that He had given you\n the victory over them; for God ever seeth what ye do.\n These are they who believed not, and kept you away from the Sacred\n Mosque, as well as the offering, which was prevented from\n reaching its destination. And but for the faithful men and women,\n whom ye did not know and might have trampled, so that guilt might\n have lighted on you on their account without your knowledge, that\n God might bring whom He pleased into His mercy; had they been\n separate, we had surely punished the unbelievers among them with\n a grievous torment.\n When the unbelievers had put disdain in their hearts,--the disdain\n of ignorance,--God sent down His tranquillity on His Apostle and\n the faithful, and fixed firmly in them the word of piety, for\n they were most worthy and fit for it, and God well knoweth all\n things.\n Now hath God spoken truth to His Apostle in the night vision: \u201cYe\n shall surely enter the Sacred Mosque, if God please, safe, with\n shaven heads, or hair cut; ye shall not fear, for He knoweth what\n ye do not know; and He hath ordained you, besides that, a victory\n near at hand.\u201d\n It is He who hath sent his Apostle with the guidance and the\n religion of truth, to make it triumph over every religion; and\n God is witness enough!\n\n Mohammad is the Apostle of God, and those of his party are vehement\n against the infidels, but compassionate to one another. Thou\n mayest see them bowing down, worshipping, seeking grace from God,\n and His approval; their tokens are on their faces--the traces\n of their prostrations. This is their likeness in the Torah, and\n their likeness in the Gospel, like a seed which putteth forth its\n stalk, and strengtheneth it, and it groweth stout, and standeth\n up upon its stem, rejoicing the sowers--to anger unbelievers\n thereby. To those among them who believe, and do the things that\n are right, God hath promised forgiveness and a mighty reward.\n\n (xlviii.)\n\n\n\n\nHELP.\n\n_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._\n\n\n When the HELP of God and victory come,\n And thou seest the people entering the religion of God in troops;\n Then magnify the praises of thy Lord, and seek forgiveness of Him;\n verily He is ever relenting.\n\n (cx.)\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAW GIVEN AT MEDINA\n\n\nRELIGIOUS LAW.\n\nIt is not righteousness that ye turn your face towards the east or\nthe west, but righteousness is [in] him who believeth in God and the\nLast Day, and the Angels, and the Scripture, and the Prophets, and\nwho giveth wealth for the love of God to his kinsfolk and to orphans\nand the needy and the son of the road and them that ask and for the\nfreeing of slaves, and who is instant in prayer, and giveth the alms;\nand those who fulfil their covenant when they covenant, and the patient\nin adversity and affliction and in time of violence, these are they who\nare true, and these are they who fear God.--ii. 172.\n\nSay: We believe in God, and what hath been sent down to thee, and what\nwas sent down to Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the\ntribes, and what was given to Moses, and to Jesus, and the prophets\nfrom their Lord,--we make no distinction between any of them,--and to\nHim are we resigned: and whoso desireth other than Resignation [Isl\u0101m]\nfor a religion, it shall certainly not be accepted from him, and in the\nlife to come he shall be among the losers.--iii. 78, 79.\n\nObserve the prayers, and the middle prayer, and stand instant before\nGod. And if ye fear, then afoot or mounted; but when ye are safe\nremember God, how he taught you what ye did not know.--ii. 239, 240.\n\nWhen the call to prayer soundeth on the Day of Congregation (Friday),\nthen hasten to remember God, and abandon business; that is better for\nyou if ye only knew: and when prayer is done, disperse in the land and\nseek of the bounty of God.--lxii. 9, 10.\n\nTurn thy face towards the Sacred Mosque; wherever ye be, turn your\nfaces thitherwards.--ii. 139.\n\nGive alms on the path of God, and let not your hands cast you into\ndestruction; but do good, for God loveth those who do good; and\naccomplish the pilgrimage and the visit to God: but if ye be besieged,\nthen [send] what is easiest as an offering.--ii. 191.\n\nThey will ask thee what it is they must give in alms. Say: Let what\ngood ye give be for parents, and kinsfolk, and the orphan, and the\nneedy, and the son of the road; and what good ye do, verily God knoweth\nit.--ii. 211.\n\nThey will ask thee what they shall expend in alms; say, The\nsurplus.--ii. 216.\n\nIf ye give alms openly, it is well; but if ye conceal it, and give it\nto the poor, it is better for you, and will take away from you some of\nyour sins: and God knoweth what ye do.--ii. 273.\n\nO ye who believe, make not your alms of no effect by taunts and\nvexation, like him who spendeth what he hath to be seen of men, and\nbelieveth not in God and the Last Day: for his likeness is as the\nlikeness of a stone with earth upon it, and a heavy rain falleth upon\nit and leaveth it bare; they accomplish nothing with what they earn,\nfor God guideth not the people that disbelieve. And the likeness of\nthose who expend their wealth for the sake of pleasing God and for the\ncertainty of their souls is as the likeness of a garden on a hill: a\nheavy rain falleth on it and it bringeth forth its fruit twofold; and\nif no heavy rain falleth on it, then the dew falleth; and God seeth\nwhat ye do.--ii. 266, 267.\n\nKind speech and forgiveness is better than alms which vexation\nfolloweth; and God is rich and ruthful.--ii. 265.\n\nO ye who believe, there is prescribed for you the fast as it was\nprescribed for those before you; maybe ye will fear God for a certain\nnumber of days, but he amongst you who is sick or on a journey may\nfast a [like] number of other days. And for those who are able to\nfast [and do not], the expiation is feeding a poor man; but he who\nvoluntarily doeth a good act, it is better for him; and to fast\nis better for you, if ye only knew. The month of Ramad\u0101n, wherein\nthe Kor\u0101n was sent down for guidance to men, and for proofs of the\nguidance, and the distinguishing [of good and evil]; whoso amongst you\nseeth this month, let him fast it; but he who is sick or on a journey,\na [like] number of other days:--God wisheth for you what is easy, and\nwisheth not for you what is difficult--that ye may fulfil the number,\nand magnify God, in that He hath guided you;--and maybe ye will be\nthankful.--ii. 179-181.\n\nProclaim among the people a Pilgrimage: let them come to thee on foot\nand on every fleet camel, coming by every deep pass, to be present\nat its benefits to them, and to make mention of God\u2019s name at the\nappointed days over the beasts with which He hath provided them: then\neat thereof, and feed the poor and needy; then let them end the neglect\nof their persons, and pay their vows, and make the circuit of the\nancient House.--xxii. 28-30.\n\nHe only shall visit the Mosques of God who believeth in God and the\nLast Day, and is instant in prayer, and payeth the alms, and feareth\nGod only.--ix. 18.\n\nDo ye place the giving drink to the pilgrims, and the visiting of the\nSacred Mosque, on the same level with him who believeth in God and the\nLast Day, and fighteth on the path of God? They are not equal in the\nsight of God.--ix. 19.\n\nFight in the path of God with those who fight with you;--but exceed\nnot; verily God loveth not those who exceed.--And kill them wheresoever\nye find them, and thrust them out from whence they thrust you out;\nfor dissent is worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred\nMosque, unless they fight you there: but if they fight you, then kill\nthem: such is the reward of the infidels! But if they desist, then\nverily God is forgiving and merciful.--But fight them till there be no\ndissent, and the worship be only to God;--but, if they desist, then let\nthere be no hostility save against the transgressors.--ii. 186-189.\n\nThey will ask thee of the sacred month, and fighting therein; say,\nFighting therein is a great sin; but turning people away from God\u2019s\npath, and disbelief in Him and in the Sacred Mosque, and turning His\npeople out therefrom, is a greater in God\u2019s sight, and dissent is a\ngreater sin than slaughter.--ii. 214.\n\nForbidden to you is that which dieth of itself, and blood, and the\nflesh of swine, and that which is dedicated to other than God, and what\nis strangled, and what is killed by a blow, or by falling, and what\nis gored, and what wild beasts have preyed on--except what ye kill in\ntime--and what is sacrificed to idols; and to divide by [the divination\nof] arrows, that is transgression in you.--v. 4.\n\nMake not God the butt of your oaths, that ye will be pious and fear\nGod, and make peace among men, for God heareth and knoweth.--ii. 224.\n\nO ye who believe, verily wine and gambling and statues and divining\narrows are only an abomination of the devil\u2019s making: avoid them then;\nhaply ye may prosper.--v. 92.\n\n\nCIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW.\n\nIt is not for a believer to kill a believer, but by mistake; and whoso\nkilleth a believer by mistake must free a believing slave; and the\nblood-wit must be paid to his family, unless they remit it in alms; but\nif he be of a people hostile to you, and yet a believer, then let him\nonly free a believing slave, and if it be a tribe between whom and you\nthere is an alliance, then let the blood-wit be paid to his family, and\nlet him free a believing slave; but if he cannot find the means, then\nlet him fast for two consecutive months--a penance from God: for God\nis all-knowing and wise. And whoso killeth a believer on purpose, his\nreward is Hell, to abide therein for ever, and God will be wroth with\nhim, and curse him, and prepare for him a mighty torment.--iv. 94, 95.\n\nO ye who believe! Retaliation is prescribed for you for the slain: the\nfree for the free, the slave for the slave, the woman for the woman,\nyet for him who is remitted aught by his brother, shall be prosecution\nin reason, and payment in generosity.--ii. 173.\n\nHe who slayeth a soul, unless it be for another soul, or for wickedness\nin the land, is as though he had slain all mankind; and he who saveth a\nsoul alive is as though he had saved the lives of all mankind.--v. 35.\n\nThe reward of those who war against God and His apostle, and work evil\nin the earth, is but that they shall be killed or crucified, or that\ntheir hands and feet shall be cut off alternately, or that they shall\nbe banished from the land--that is their disgrace in this world, and in\nthe next they shall have a mighty torment.--v. 37.\n\nThe man thief and the woman thief, cut off the hands of both in\nrequital for what they have done; an example from God, for God is\nmighty and wise.--v. 42.\n\nThey who devour usury shall not rise again, save as he riseth whom the\nDevil hath smitten with his touch; that is because they say, \u201cSelling\nis only like usury:\u201d but God hath allowed selling, and forbidden\nusury.--ii. 276.\n\nIf ye fear that ye cannot do justice between orphans, then marry such\nwomen as are lawful to you, by twos or threes or fours; and if ye fear\nye cannot be equitable, then only one, or what [slaves] your right\nhands possess: that is the chief thing--that ye be not unfair.--iv. 3.\n\nMarry those of you who are single, and the good among your servants,\nand your handmaidens. If they be poor, God of his bounty will enrich\nthem, and God is liberal, wise. And let those who cannot find a match,\nlive in chastity, till God of His bounty shall enrich them.--xxiv. 32.\n\nWed not idolatrous women until they believe, for surely a believing\nhandmaiden is better than an idolatress, although she captivate you.\nAnd wed not idolaters until they believe, for a believing slave is\nbetter than an idolater, although he charm you.--ii. 220.\n\nDivorce may be twice: then take them in reason or let them go with\nkindness. It is not lawful for you to take from them aught of what\nye have given them, unless both fear that they cannot keep God\u2019s\nbounds. But if he divorce her [a third time], she is not lawful to him\nafterwards, until she marry another husband; but if he also divorce\nher, it is no crime in them both to come together again.--ii. 229, 230.\n\nAnd for the divorced there should be a maintenance in reason, a duty\nthis on those who fear God.--ii. 242.\n\nAgainst those of your women who commit adultery, summon witnesses four\nin number from among you; and if these bear witness [to the crime],\nthen keep the women in houses till death release them, or God make a\nway for them.--iv. 19.\n\nThey who slander chaste women, and bring not four witnesses, scourge\nthem with fourscore stripes, and receive not their testimony for ever,\nfor these are the transgressors:--save those who afterwards repent and\ndo what is right--for God is forgiving, merciful.--xxiv. 4.\n\nIt is prescribed for you that, when one of you is at the point of\ndeath, if he leave property, the legacy is to his parents and to his\nkindred in reason--a duty upon those that fear God.--ii. 176.\n\nGod ordereth you concerning your children: for a male, the equal of\nthe portion of two females, and if there be more than two women, let\nthem have two-thirds of what [the deceased] hath left; and if there\nbe only one, then let her have the half; and for the parents, for\neach of them a sixth of what he hath left, if he hath issue; but if\nhe hath no issue, and his parents inherit, then let his mother have\na third; and if he hath brethren, let his mother have a sixth, after\npayment of any bequest he may have bequeathed, or debts. Your parents\nand your children, ye know not which is the more helpful to you. An\nordinance from God: verily God is all-knowing and wise! And yours is\nhalf of what your wives leave, if they have no issue; but if they have\nissue, then ye shall have a fourth of what they leave, after payment\nof any bequests they may bequeath, or their debts; and they shall have\na fourth of what ye leave, if ye have no issue; but if ye have issue,\nthen let them have an eighth of what ye leave, after paying of any\nbequest ye may bequeath, or debts. And if the man\u2019s or the woman\u2019s heir\nbe a collateral kinsman, and he (or she) have a brother or a sister,\nthen let each of these two have a sixth; but if they are more than\nthat, let them share a third, after payment of any bequests he may\nbequeath, or debts, without prejudice; an ordinance from God, and God\nis wise and clement!\n\nThese are God\u2019s statutes, and whoso obeyeth God and the Apostle, He\nwill bring him into gardens, whereunder rivers flow, to abide therein\nfor aye,--that is the great prize! But whoso rebelleth against God\nand his Apostle, and transgresseth His statutes, He will bring him\ninto fire, to dwell therein for aye; and his shall be a shameful\ntorment.--iv. 12-18.\n\nThose of you who die and leave wives, should leave their wives\nmaintenance for a year, without driving them out [from their homes]:\nbut if they go out, there is no crime in you for what they do for\nthemselves in reason; and God is mighty and wise.--ii. 241.\n\nIf a man perish and leave no issue, but leave a sister, then hers\nis half of what he leaves, and he shall be her heir, if she have no\nissue; but if there be two sisters, let them have two-thirds of what he\nleaves, and if there be brethren, both men and women, let the male have\nthe equal of the portion of two females. God maketh this plain to you,\nlest ye err; and God knoweth all things.--iv. 176.\n\nO ye who believe! stand fast by justice, bearing witness before God,\nthough it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kindred,\nwhether it be rich or poor; for God is worthier than they.--iv. 134.\n\nTo those of your slaves who desire a deed [for buying their freedom],\nwrite it for them, if ye know good in them, and give them a portion of\nthe wealth of God which He hath given you.--xxiv. 33.\n\nIf any of the idolaters seek refuge with thee, grant him refuge,\nthat he may hear the word of God; then let him reach his place in\nsafety.--ix. 6.\n\nGod wisheth to make it light for you, for man was created weak.--iv. 32.\n\nIf ye shun great sins which ye are forbidden, we will cover your\noffences, and make you enter Paradise with a noble entrance.--iv. 35.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TABLE-TALK OF MOHAMMAD.\n\n\nWhen God created the creation He wrote a book, which is near him upon\nthe sovran Throne; and what is written in it is this: _Verily my\ncompassion overcometh my wrath_.\n\n * * * * *\n\nSay not, if people do good to us, we will do good to them, and if\npeople oppress us, we will oppress them: but resolve that if people do\ngood to you, you will do good to them, and if they oppress you, oppress\nthem not again.\n\n * * * * *\n\nGod saith: Whoso doth one good act, for him are ten rewards, and I also\ngive more to whomsoever I will; and whoso doth ill, its retaliation is\nequal to it, or else I forgive him; and he who seeketh to approach me\none cubit, I will seek to approach him two fathoms; and he who walketh\ntowards me, I will run towards him; and he who cometh before me with\nthe earth full of sins, but joineth no Partner to me, I will come\nbefore him with an equal front of forgiveness.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere are seven people whom God will draw under His own shadow, on that\nDay when there will be no other shadow: one a just king; another, who\nhath employed himself in devotion from his youth; the third, who fixeth\nhis heart on the Mosque till he return to it; the fourth, two men whose\nfriendship is to please God, whether together or separate; the fifth, a\nman who remembereth God when he is alone, and weepeth; the sixth, a man\nwho is tempted by a rich and beautiful woman, and saith, Verily I fear\nGod! the seventh, a man who hath given alms and concealed it, so that\nhis left hand knoweth not what his right hand doeth.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe most excellent of all actions is to befriend any one on God\u2019s\naccount, and to be at enmity with whosoever is the enemy of God.\n\n * * * * *\n\nVerily ye are in an age in which if ye abandon one-tenth of what is\nordered, ye will be ruined. After this a time will come when he who\nshall observe one-tenth of what is now ordered will be redeemed.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Concerning Prayer._\n\nAngels come amongst you both night and day; then those of the night\nascend to heaven, and God asketh them how they left His creatures: they\nsay, We left them at prayer, and we found them at prayer.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe rewards for the prayers which are performed by people assembled\ntogether are double of those which are said at home.\n\n * * * * *\n\nYe must not say your prayers at the rising or the setting of the sun:\nso when a limb of the sun appeareth, leave your prayers until her whole\norb is up: and when the sun beginneth to set, quit your prayers until\nthe whole orb hath disappeared; for, verily she riseth between the two\nhorns of the Devil.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNo neglect of duty is imputable during sleep; for neglect can only\ntake place when one is awake: therefore, when any of you forget your\nprayers, say them when ye recollect.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen any one of you goeth to sleep, the Devil tieth three knots upon\nhis neck; and saith over every knot, \u201cThe night is long, sleep.\u201d\nTherefore, if a servant awake and remember God, it openeth one knot,\nand if he perform the ablution, it openeth another; and if he say\nprayers it openeth the other; and he riseth in the morning in gladness\nand purity:--otherwise he riseth in a lethargic state.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen a Muslim performeth the ablution, it washeth from his face those\nfaults which he may have cast his eyes upon; and when he washeth his\nhands, it removeth the faults they may have committed, and when he\nwasheth his feet, it dispelleth the faults towards which they may\nhave carried him: so that he will rise up in purity from the place of\nablution.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Charity._\n\nWhen God created the earth, it began to shake and tremble; then God\ncreated mountains, and put them upon the earth, and the land became\nfirm and fixed; and the angels were astonished at the hardness of the\nhills, and said, \u201cO God, is there anything of thy creation harder than\nhills?\u201d and God said, \u201cYes, water is harder than the hills, because it\nbreaketh them.\u201d Then the angel said, \u201cO Lord, is there anything of thy\ncreation harder than water?\u201d He said, \u201cYes, wind overcometh water: it\ndoth agitate it and put it in motion.\u201d They said, \u201cO our Lord! is there\nanything of thy creation harder than wind?\u201d He said, \u201cYes, the children\nof Adam giving alms: those who give with their right hand, and conceal\nfrom their left, overcome all.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe liberal man is near the pleasure of God and is near Paradise, which\nhe shall enter into, and is near the hearts of men as a friend, and he\nis distant from hell; but the niggard is far from God\u2019s pleasure and\nfrom paradise, and far from the hearts of men, and near the Fire; and\nverily a liberal ignorant man is more beloved by God than a niggardly\nworshipper.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA man\u2019s giving in alms one piece of silver in his lifetime is better\nfor him than giving one hundred when about to die.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThink not that any good act is contemptible, though it be but your\nbrother\u2019s coming to you with an open countenance and good humour.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere is alms for a man\u2019s every joint, every day in which the sun\nriseth; doing justice between two people is alms; and assisting a man\nupon his beast, and his baggage, is alms; and pure words, for which are\nrewards; and answering a questioner with mildness is alms, and every\nstep which is made toward prayer is alms, and removing that which is an\ninconvenience to man, such as stones and thorns, is alms.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe people of the Prophet\u2019s house killed a goat, and the Prophet said,\n\u201cWhat remaineth of it?\u201d They said, \u201cNothing but the shoulder; for they\nhave sent the whole to the poor and neighbours, except a shoulder which\nremaineth.\u201d The Prophet said, \u201cNay, it is the whole goat that remaineth\nexcept its shoulder: that remaineth which they have given away, the\nrewards of which will be eternal, and what remaineth in the house is\nfleeting.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nFeed the hungry, visit the sick, and free the captive if he be unjustly\nbound.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Fasting._\n\nA keeper of fasts, who doth not abandon lying and slandering, God\ncareth not about his leaving off eating and drinking.\n\n * * * * *\n\nKeep fast and eat also, stay awake at night and sleep also, because\nverily there is a duty on you to your body, not to labour overmuch, so\nthat ye may not get ill and destroy yourselves; and verily there is a\nduty on you to your eyes, ye must sometimes sleep and give them rest;\nand verily there is a duty on you to your wife, and to your visitors\nand guests that come to see you; ye must talk to them; and nobody hath\nkept fast who fasted always; the fast of three days in every month is\nequal to constant fasting: then keep three days\u2019 fast in every month.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Reading the Kor\u0101n._\n\nThe state of a Muslim who readeth the Kor\u0101n is like the orange fruit,\nwhose smell and taste are pleasant; and that of a Muslim who doth not\nread the Kor\u0101n, is like a date which hath no smell, but a sweet taste;\nand the condition of any hypocrite who doth not read the Kor\u0101n is\nlike the colocynth which hath no smell, but a bitter taste; and the\nhypocrite who readeth the Kor\u0101n is like the sweet bazil, whose smell is\nsweet, but taste bitter.\n\n * * * * *\n\nRead the Kor\u0101n constantly; I sware by Him in the hands of whose might\nis my life, verily the Kor\u0101n runneth away faster than a camel which is\nnot tied by the leg.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Labour and Profit._\n\nVerily the best things which ye eat are those which ye earn yourselves\nor which your children earn.\n\n * * * * *\n\nVerily it is better for one of you to take a rope and bring a bundle\nof wood upon his back and sell it, in which case God guardeth his\nhonour, than to beg of people, whether they give him or not; if they do\nnot give him, his reputation suffereth and he returneth disappointed;\nand if they give him, it is worse than that, for it layeth him under\nobligations.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA man came to the Prophet, begging of him something, and the Prophet\nsaid, \u201cHave you nothing at home?\u201d He said, \u201cYes, there is a large\ncarpet, with one part of which I cover myself, and spread the other,\nand there is a wooden cup in which I drink water.\u201d Then the Prophet\nsaid, \u201cBring me the carpet and the cup.\u201d And the man brought them, and\nthe Prophet took them in his hand and said, \u201cWho will buy them?\u201d A man\nsaid, \u201cI will take them at one silver piece.\u201d He said, \u201cWho will give\nmore?\u201d This he repeated twice or thrice. Another man said, \u201cI will\ntake them for two pieces of silver.\u201d Then the Prophet gave the carpet\nand cup to that man, and took the two pieces of silver, and gave them\nto the helper, and said, \u201cBuy food with one of these pieces, and give\nit to your family, that they may make it their sustenance for a few\ndays; and buy a hatchet with the other piece and bring it to me.\u201d And\nthe man brought it; and the Prophet put a handle to it with his own\nhands, and then said, \u201cGo, cut wood, and sell it, and let me not see\nyou for fifteen days.\u201d Then the man went cutting wood, and selling\nit; and he came to the Prophet, when verily he had got ten pieces of\nsilver, and he bought a garment with part of it, and food with part.\nThen the Prophet said, \u201cThis cutting and selling of wood, and making\nyour livelihood by it, is better for you than coming on the day of\nresurrection with black marks on your face.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nActs of begging are scratches and wounds by which a man woundeth his\nown face; then he who wisheth to guard his face from scratches and\nwounds must not beg, unless that a man asketh from his prince, or in an\naffair in which there is no remedy.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Prophet hath cursed ten persons on account of wine: one, the first\nextractor of the juice of the grape for others; the second for himself;\nthe third the drinker of it; the fourth the bearer of it; the fifth the\nperson to whom it is brought; the sixth the waiter; the seventh the\nseller of it; the eighth the eater of its price; the ninth the buyer of\nit; the tenth that person who hath purchased it for another.\n\n * * * * *\n\nMerchants shall be raised up liars on the Day of Resurrection, except\nhe who abstaineth from that which is unlawful, and doth not swear\nfalsely, but speaketh true in the price of his goods.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe taker of interest and the giver of it, and the writer of its papers\nand the witness to it, are equal in crime.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe holder of a monopoly is a sinner and offender.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe bringers of grain to the city to sell at a cheap rate gain immense\nadvantage by it, and he who keepeth back grain in order to sell at a\nhigh rate is cursed.\n\n * * * * *\n\nHe who desireth that God should redeem him from the sorrows and\ndifficulties of the Day of Resurrection, must delay in calling on poor\ndebtors, or forgive the debt in part or whole.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA martyr shall be pardoned every fault but debt.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhosoever has a thing with which to discharge a debt, and refuseth to\ndo it, it is right to dishonour and punish him.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA bier was brought to the Prophet, to say prayers over it. He said,\n\u201cHath he left any debts?\u201d They said, \u201cYes.\u201d He said, \u201cHath he left\nanything to discharge them?\u201d They said, \u201cNo.\u201d The Prophet said, \u201cSay ye\nprayers over him, I shall not.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nGive the labourer his wage before his perspiration be dry.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Fighting for the Faith._\n\nWe came out with the Prophet, with a part of the army, and a man passed\nby a cavern in which was water and verdure, and he said in his heart,\n\u201cI shall stay here, and retire from the world.\u201d Then he asked the\nProphet\u2019s permission to live in the cavern; but he said, \u201cVerily I have\nnot been sent on the Jewish religion, nor the Christian, to quit the\ndelights of society; but I have been sent on the religion inclining to\ntruth, and that which is easy, wherein is no difficulty or austerity. I\nswear by God, in whose hand is my life, that marching about morning and\nevening to fight for religion is better than the world and everything\nthat is in it: and verily the standing of one of you in the line of\nbattle is better than supererogatory prayers performed in your house\nfor sixty years.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen the Prophet sent an army out to fight, he would say, March in\nthe name of God and by His aid and on the religion of the Messenger\nof God. Kill not the old man who cannot fight, nor young children nor\nwomen; and steal not the spoils of war, but put your spoils together;\nand quarrel not amongst yourselves, but be good to one another, for God\nloveth the doer of good.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Judgments._\n\nThe first judgment that God will pass on man at the Day of Resurrection\nwill be for murder.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhosoever throweth himself from the top of a mountain and killeth\nhimself is in Hell Fire for ever; and whosoever killeth himself with\niron, his iron shall be in his hand, and he will stab his belly with it\nin Hell Fire everlastingly.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNo judge must decide between two persons whilst he is angry.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere is no judge who hath decided between men, whether just or unjust,\nbut will come to God\u2019s court on the Day of Resurrection held by the\nneck by an angel; and the angel will raise his head towards the heavens\nand wait for God\u2019s orders; and if God ordereth to throw him into hell,\nthe angel will do it from a height of forty years\u2019 journey.\n\n * * * * *\n\nVerily there will come on a just judge at the Day of Resurrection such\nfear and horror, that he will wish, Would to God that I had not decided\nbetween two persons in a trial for a single date.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Women and Slaves._\n\nThe world and all things in it are valuable, but the most valuable\nthing in the world is a virtuous woman.\n\n * * * * *\n\nI have not left any calamity more hurtful to man than woman.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA Muslim cannot obtain (after righteousness) anything better than a\nwell-disposed, beautiful wife: such a wife as, when ordered by her\nhusband to do anything, obeyeth; and if her husband look at her, is\nhappy; and if her husband swear by her to do a thing, she doth it to\nmake his oath true; and if he be absent from her, she wisheth him well\nin her own person by guarding herself from inchastity, and taketh care\nof his property.\n\n * * * * *\n\nVerily the best of women are those who are content with little.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAdmonish your wives with kindness; for women were created out of a\ncrooked rib of Adam, therefore if ye wish to straighten it, ye will\nbreak it; and if ye let it alone, it will be always crooked.\n\n * * * * *\n\nEvery woman who dieth, and her husband is pleased with her, shall enter\ninto paradise.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThat which is lawful but disliked by God is divorce.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA woman may be married by four qualifications: one, on account of\nher money; another, on account of the nobility of her pedigree;\nanother, on account of her beauty; a fourth, on account of her faith;\ntherefore look out for religious women, but if ye do it from any other\nconsideration, may your hands be rubbed in dirt.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA widow shall not be married until she be consulted; nor shall a virgin\nbe married until her consent be asked, whose consent is by her silence.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen the Prophet was informed that the people of Persia had made the\ndaughter of Chosroes their Queen, he said, The tribe that constitutes a\nwoman its ruler will not find redemption.\n\n * * * * *\n\nDo not prevent your women from coming to the mosque; but their homes\nare better for them.\n\n * * * * *\n\nO assembly of women, give alms, although it be of your gold and silver\nornaments; for verily ye are mostly of Hell on the Day of Resurrection.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen ye return from a journey and enter your town at night, go not to\nyour houses, so that your wives may have time to comb their dishevelled\nhair.\n\n * * * * *\n\nGod has ordained that your brothers should be your slaves: therefore\nhim whom God hath ordained to be the slave of his brother, his brother\nmust give him of the food which he eateth himself, and of the clothes\nwherewith he clotheth himself, and not order him to do anything beyond\nhis power, and if he doth order such a work, he must himself assist him\nin doing it.\n\n * * * * *\n\nHe who beateth his slave without fault, or slappeth him in the face,\nhis atonement for this is freeing him.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA man who behaveth ill to his slave will not enter into paradise.\n\n * * * * *\n\nForgive thy servant seventy times a day.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Dumb Animals._\n\nFear God in respect of animals: ride them when they are fit to be\nridden, and get off when they are tired.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA man came before the Prophet with a carpet, and said, \u201cO Prophet! I\npassed through a wood, and heard the voices of the young of birds; and\nI took and put them into my carpet; and their mother came fluttering\nround my head, and I uncovered the young, and the mother fell down upon\nthem, then I wrapped them up in my carpet; and there are the young\nwhich I have.\u201d Then the Prophet said, \u201cPut them down.\u201d And when he did\nso, their mother joined them: and the Prophet said, \u201cDo you wonder at\nthe affection of the mother towards her young? I swear by Him who hath\nsent me, verily God is more loving to His servants than the mother to\nthese young birds. Return them to the place from which ye took them,\nand let their mother be with them.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nVerily there are rewards for our doing good to dumb animals, and giving\nthem water to drink. An adulteress was forgiven who passed by a dog at\na well; for the dog was holding out his tongue from thirst, which was\nnear killing him; and the woman took off her boot, and tied it to the\nend of her garment, and drew water for the dog, and gave him to drink;\nand she was forgiven for that act.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Hospitality._\n\nWhen a man cometh into his house and remembereth God and repeateth His\nname at eating his meals, the Devil saith to his followers, \u201cHere is no\nplace for you to stay in to-night, nor is there any supper for you.\u201d\nAnd when a man cometh into his house without remembering God\u2019s name,\nthe Devil saith to his followers, \u201cYou have got a place to spend the\nnight in.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhosoever believeth in God and the Day of Resurrection must respect his\nguest, and the time of being kind to him is one day and one night, and\nthe period of entertaining him is three days, and after that, if he\ndoth it longer, he benefiteth him more. It is not right for a guest to\nstay in the house of the host so long as to inconvenience him.\n\n * * * * *\n\nI heard this, that God is pure, and loveth purity; and God is liberal,\nand loveth liberality; God is munificent, and loveth munificence: then\nkeep the courts of your house clean, and do not be like Jews who do not\nclean the courts of their houses.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Government._\n\nGovernment is a trust from God, and verily government will be at the\nDay of Resurrection a cause of inquiry, unless he who hath taken it be\nworthy of it and have acted justly and done good.\n\n * * * * *\n\nVerily a king is God\u2019s shadow upon the earth; and every one oppressed\nturneth to him: then when the king doeth justice, for him are rewards\nand gratitude from his subject: but, if the king oppresseth, on him is\nhis sin, and for the oppressed resignation.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThat is the best of men who disliketh power. Beware! ye are all\nguardians; and ye will be asked about your subjects: then the leader\nis the guardian of the subject, and he will be asked respecting the\nsubject; and a man is a shepherd to his own family, and will be asked\nhow they behaved, and his conduct to them; and a wife is guardian to\nher husband\u2019s house and children, and will be interrogated about them;\nand a slave is a shepherd to his master\u2019s property, and will be asked\nabout it, whether he took good care of it or not.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere is no prince who oppresseth the subject and dieth, but God\nforbiddeth Paradise to him.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIf a negro slave is appointed to rule over you, hear him, and obey him,\nthough his head should be like a dried grape.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere is no obedience due to sinful commands, nor to any other than\nwhat is lawful.\n\n * * * * *\n\nO Prophet of God, if we have princes over us, wanting our rights, and\nwithholding our rights from us, then what do you order us? He said,\n\u201cYe must hear them and obey their orders: it is on them to be just and\ngood, and on you to be obedient and submissive.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nHe is not strong or powerful who throws people down, but he is strong\nwho withholds himself from anger.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen one of you getteth angry, he must sit down, and if his anger goeth\naway from sitting, so much the better; if not, let him lie down.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Vanities and Sundry Matters._\n\nThe angels are not with the company with which is a dog nor with the\ncompany with which is a bell.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA bell is the Devil\u2019s musical instrument.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe angels do not enter a house in which is a dog, nor that in which\nthere are pictures.\n\n * * * * *\n\nEvery painter is in Hell Fire; and God will appoint a person at the Day\nof Resurrection for every picture he shall have drawn, to punish him,\nand they will punish him in Hell. Then if you must make pictures, make\nthem of trees and things without souls.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhosoever shall tell a dream, not having dreamt, shall be put to the\ntrouble at the Day of Resurrection of joining two barleycorns; and he\ncan by no means do it; and he will be punished. And whosoever listeneth\nto others\u2019 conversation, who dislike to be heard by him, and avoid him,\nboiling lead will be poured into his ears at the Day of Resurrection.\nAnd whosoever draweth a picture shall be punished by ordering him to\nbreathe a spirit into it, and this he can never do, and so he will be\npunished as long as God wills.\n\n * * * * *\n\nO servants of God use medicine: because God hath not created a pain\nwithout a remedy for it, to be the means of curing it, except age; for\nthat is a pain without a remedy.\n\n * * * * *\n\nHe who is not loving to God\u2019s creatures and to his own children, God\nwill not be loving to him.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe truest words spoken by any poet are those of Leb\u012bd, who said, \u201cKnow\nthat everything is vanity except God.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nVerily he who believeth fighteth with his sword and tongue: I swear by\nGod, verily abuse of infidels in verse is worse to them than arrows.\n\n * * * * *\n\nMeekness and shame are two branches of faith, and vain talking and\nembellishing are two branches of hypocrisy.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe calamity of knowledge is forgetfulness, and to lose knowledge is\nthis, to speak of it to the unworthy.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhoso pursueth the road of knowledge, God will direct him to the road\nof Paradise; and verily the angels spread their arms to receive him who\nseeketh after knowledge; and everything in heaven and earth will ask\ngrace for him; and verily the superiority of a learned man over a mere\nworshipper is like that of the full moon over all the stars.\n\n * * * * *\n\nHearing is not like seeing: verily God acquainted Moses of his tribe\u2019s\nworshipping a calf, but he did not throw down the tables; but when\nMoses went to his tribe, and saw with his eyes the calf they had made,\nhe threw down the tables and broke them.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBe not extravagant in praising me, as the Christians are in praising\nJesus, Mary\u2019s Son, by calling him God, and the Son of God; I am only\nthe Lord\u2019s servant; then call me the servant of God, and His messenger.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt was asked, \u201cO Messenger of God, what relation is most worthy of\ndoing good to?\u201d He said, \u201cYour mother,\u201d this he repeated thrice:\n\u201cand after her your father, and after him your other relations by\npropinquity.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nGod\u2019s pleasure is in a father\u2019s pleasure, and God\u2019s displeasure is a\nfather\u2019s displeasure.\n\n * * * * *\n\nVerily one of you is a mirror to his brother: Then if he see a vice in\nhis brother he must tell him to get rid of it.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe best person near God is the best amongst his friends; and the best\nof neighbours near God is the best person in his own neighbourhood.\n\n * * * * *\n\nDeliberation in undertaking is pleasing to God, and haste is pleasing\nto the devil.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe heart of the old is always young in two things, in love for the\nworld and length of hope.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Death._\n\nWish not for death any one of you; either a doer of good works,\nfor peradventure he may increase them by an increase of life; or\nan offender, for perhaps he may obtain the forgiveness of God by\nrepentance.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen the soul is taken from the body, the eyes follow it, and look\ntowards it: on this account the eyes remain open.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen a believer is nearly dead, angels of mercy come, clothed in white\nsilk garments, and say to the soul of the dying man, \u201cCome out, O\nthou who art satisfied with God, and with whom He is satisfied; come\nout to rest, which is with God, and the sustenance of God\u2019s mercy and\ncompassion, and to the Lord, who is not angry.\u201d Then the soul cometh\nout like the smell of the best musk, so that verily it is handed from\none angel to another, till they bring it to the doors of the celestial\nregions. Then the angels say, \u201cWhat a wonderful pleasant smell this is\nwhich is come to you from the earth!\u201d Then they bring it to the souls\nof the faithful, and they are very happy at its coming; more than ye\nare at the coming of one of your family after a long journey. And the\nsouls of the faithful ask it, \u201cWhat hath such an one done, and such an\none? how are they?\u201d and they mention the names of their friends who are\nleft in the world. And some of them say, \u201cLet it alone, do not ask it,\nbecause it was grieved in the world, and came from thence aggrieved;\nask it when it is at rest.\u201d Then the soul saith when it is at ease,\n\u201cVerily such an one about whom ye ask is dead.\u201d And as they do not see\nhim amongst themselves, they say to one another, \u201cSurely he was carried\nto his mother, which is Hell Fire.\u201d\n\nAnd verily when an infidel is near death, angels of punishment\ncome to him, clothed in sackcloth, and say to his soul, \u201cCome out,\nthou discontented, and with whom God is displeased; come to God\u2019s\npunishments.\u201d Then it cometh out with a disagreeable smell, worse than\nthe worst stench of a dead body, until they bring it upon the earth,\nand they say, \u201cWhat an extraordinary bad smell this is;\u201d till they\nbring it to the souls of the infidels.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA bier was passing, and the Prophet stood up for it; and we stood with\nhim and said, \u201cO Prophet! verily this bier is of a Jewish woman; we\nmust not respect it.\u201d Then the Prophet said, \u201cVerily death is dreadful:\ntherefore when ye see a bier stand up.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nDo not abuse or speak ill of the dead, because they have arrived at\nwhat they sent before them; they have received the rewards of their\nactions; if the reward is good, you must not mention them as sinful;\nand if it is bad, perhaps they may be forgiven, but if not, your\nmentioning their badness is of no use.\n\n * * * * *\n\nSit not upon graves, nor say your prayers fronting them.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhoso consoleth one in misfortune, for him is a reward equal to that of\nthe sufferer.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhoso comforteth a woman who has lost her child will be covered with a\ngarment in Paradise.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Prophet passed by graves in Medina, and turned his face towards\nthem, and said, \u201cPeace be to you, O people of the graves. God forgive\nus and you! Ye have passed on before us, and we are following you.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of the State after Death._\n\nTo whomsoever God giveth wealth, and he doth not perform the charity\ndue from it, his wealth will be made into the shape of a serpent on\nthe Day of Resurrection, which shall not have any hair upon its head,\nand this is a sign of its poison and long life, and it hath two black\nspots upon its eyes, and it will be twisted round his neck like a\nchain on the Day of Resurrection; then the serpent will seize the\nman\u2019s jaw-bones, and will say, \u201cI am thy wealth, the charity for which\nthou didst not give, and I am thy treasure, from which thou didst not\nseparate any alms.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Prophet asked us, \u201cDid any one of you dream?\u201d We said, \u201cNo.\u201d He\nsaid, \u201cBut I did. Two men came to me and took hold of my hands, and\ncarried me to a pure land: and behold, there was a man sitting and\nanother standing: the first had an iron hook in his hand, and was\nhooking the other in the lip, and split it to the back of the neck, and\nthen did the same with the other lip. While this was doing the first\nhealed, and the man kept on from one lip to the other.\u201d I said, \u201cWhat\nis this?\u201d They said, \u201cMove on,\u201d and we did so till we reached a man\nsleeping on his back, and another standing at his head with a stone in\nhis hand, with which he was breaking the other\u2019s head, and afterwards\nrolled the stone about and then followed it, and had not yet returned,\nwhen the man\u2019s head was healed and well. Then he broke it again, and I\nsaid, \u201cWhat is this?\u201d They said, \u201cWalk on,\u201d and we walked, till we came\nto a hole like an oven, with its top narrow and its bottom wide, and\nfire was burning under it, and there were naked men and women in it;\nand when the fire burnt high the people mounted also, and when the fire\nsubsided they subsided also. Then I said \u201cWhat is this?\u201d They said,\n\u201cMove on,\u201d and we went on till we came to a river of blood, with a man\nstanding in the middle of it, and another man on the bank, with stones\nin his hands: and when the man in the river attempted to come out, the\nother threw stones in his face, and made him return. And I said, \u201cWhat\nis this?\u201d They said, \u201cAdvance,\u201d and we moved forward, till we arrived\nat a green garden, in which was a large tree, and an old man and\nchildren sitting on the roots of it, and near it was a man lighting a\nfire. Then I was carried upon the tree, and put into a house which was\nin the middle of it,--a better house I have never seen: and there were\nold men, young men, women, and children. After that they brought me\nout of the house and carried me to the top of the tree, and put me into\na better house, where were old men and young men. And I said to my two\nconductors, \u201cVerily ye have shown me a great many things to-night, then\ninform me of what I have seen.\u201d They said, \u201cYes: as to the man whom you\nsaw with split lips, he was a liar, and will be treated in that way\ntill the Day of Resurrection; and the person you saw getting his head\nbroken is a man whom God taught the Kor\u0101n, and he did not repeat it in\nthe night, nor practice what is in it by day, and he will be treated\nas you saw till the Day of Resurrection; and the people you saw in\nthe oven are adulterers; and those you saw in the river are receivers\nof usury; and the old man you saw under the tree is Abraham; and the\nchildren around them are the children of men: and the person who was\nlighting the fire was M\u0101lik, the keeper of hell; and the first house\nyou entered was for the common believers; and as to the second house,\nit is for the martyrs: and we who conducted you are one of us Gabriel,\nand the other Michael; then raise up your head;\u201d and I did so, and saw\nabove it as it were a cloud: and they said, \u201cThat is your dwelling.\u201d I\nsaid, \u201cCall it here, that I may enter it;\u201d and they said, \u201cVerily your\nlife remaineth, but when you have completed it, you will come into your\nhouse.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen God created Paradise, He said to Gabriel, \u201cGo and look at it,\u201d\nthen Gabriel went and looked at it and at the things which God had\nprepared for the people of it. After that Gabriel came and said, \u201cO my\nLord! I swear by thy glory no one will hear a description of Paradise\nbut will be ambitious of entering it.\u201d After that God surrounded\nParadise with distress and troubles, and said, \u201cO Gabriel, go and look\nat Paradise.\u201d And he went and looked, and then returned and said, \u201cO my\nLord, I fear that verily no one will enter it.\u201d And when God created\nHell Fire He said to Gabriel, \u201cGo and take a look at it.\u201d And he went\nand looked at it, and returned and said, \u201cO my Lord, I swear by thy\nglory that no one who shall hear a description of Hell Fire will wish\nto enter it.\u201d Then God surrounded it with sins, desires, and vices,\nafter that said to Gabriel, \u201cGo and look at Hell Fire,\u201d and he went and\nlooked at it, and said, \u201cO my Lord, I swear by thy glory I am afraid\nthat every one will enter Hell, because sins are so sweet that there is\nnone but will incline to them.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nIf ye knew what I know of the condition of the resurrection and\nfuturity, verily ye would weep much and laugh little.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThen I said, \u201cO messenger of God! shall we perish while the virtuous\nare amongst us?\u201d He said, Yes, when the wickedness shall be excessive,\nverily there will be tribes of my sects that will consider the wearing\nof silks and drinking liquor lawful, and will listen to the lute: and\nthere will be men with magnificent houses, and their milch animals will\ncome to them in the evening, full of milk, and a man will come begging\na little and they will say, Come to-morrow. Then God will quickly\nsend a punishment upon them, and will change others into the shape of\nmonkeys and swine, unto the Day of Resurrection.\n\n * * * * *\n\nVerily among the signs of the Resurrection will be the taking away of\nknowledge from amongst men; and their being in great ignorance and much\nwickedness and much drinking of liquor, and diminution of men, and\nthere being many women; to such a degree that there will be fifty women\nto one man, and he will work for a livelihood for the women.\n\n * * * * *\n\nHow can I be happy, when Isr\u0101f\u012bl hath put the trumpet to his mouth to\nblow it, leaning his ear towards the true God for orders, and hath\nalready knit his brow, waiting in expectation of orders to blow it?\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n_Of Destiny._\n\nThe hearts of men are at the disposal of God like unto one heart,\nand He turneth them about in any way that He pleaseth. O Director of\nhearts, turn our hearts to obey Thee.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe first thing which God created was a pen, and He said to it,\n\u201cWrite.\u201d It said, \u201cWhat shall I write?\u201d And God said, \u201cWrite down the\nquantity of every separate thing to be created.\u201d And it wrote all that\nwas and all that will be to eternity.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere is not one among you whose sitting-place is not written by God\nwhether in the fire or in Paradise. The Companions said, \u201cO Prophet!\nsince God hath appointed our place, may we confide in this and abandon\nour religious and moral duty?\u201d He said, \u201cNo, because the happy will do\ngood works, and those who are of the miserable will do bad works.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Prophet of God said that Adam and Moses (in the world of spirits)\nmaintained a debate before God, and Adam got the better of Moses; who\nsaid, \u201cThou art that Adam whom God created by the power of His hands,\nand breathed into thee from His own spirit, and made the angels bow\nbefore thee, and gave thee an habitation in His own Paradise: after\nthat thou threwest man upon the earth, from the fault which thou\ncommittedst.\u201d Adam said, \u201cThou art that Moses whom God elected for His\nprophecy, and to converse with, and He gave to thee twelve tables, in\nwhich are explained everything, and God made thee His confidant, and\nthe bearer of His secrets: then how long was the Bible written before\nI was created?\u201d Moses said, \u201cForty years.\u201d Then Adam said, \u201cDidst thou\nsee in the Bible that Adam disobeyed God?\u201d He said, \u201cYes.\u201d Adam said,\n\u201cDost thou then reproach me on a matter which God wrote in the Bible\nforty years before creating me?\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\n'A\u00efsha relates that the Prophet said to her, \u201cDo you know, O 'A\u00efsha!\nthe excellence of this night?\u201d (the fifteenth of Ramad\u0101n.) I said,\n\u201cWhat is it, O Prophet?\u201d He said, \u201cOne thing in this night is, that\nall the children of Adam to be born in the year are written down; and\nalso those who are to die in it, and all the actions of the children of\nAdam are carried up to heaven in this night; and their allowances are\nsent down.\u201d Then I said, \u201cO Prophet, do none enter Paradise except by\nGod\u2019s mercy?\u201d He said, \u201cNo, none enter except by God\u2019s favour:\u201d this\nhe said thrice. I said, \u201cYou, also, O Prophet! will you not enter into\nParadise, excepting by God\u2019s compassion?\u201d Then the Prophet put his hand\non his head, and said, \u201cI shall not enter, except God cover me with His\nmercy:\u201d this he said thrice.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA man asked the Prophet what was the mark whereby a man might know\nthe reality of his faith. He said, \u201cIf thou derive pleasure from the\ngood which thou hast done, and be grieved for the evil which thou hast\ncommitted, thou art a true believer.\u201d The man said, \u201cWhat doth a fault\nreally consist in?\u201d He said, \u201cWhen anything pricketh thy conscience\nforsake it.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nI am no more than man: when I order you anything with respect to\nreligion, receive it, and when I order you about the affairs of the\nworld then I am nothing more than man.\n\n\n\n\nNOTES.\n\n\nTHE MEKKA SPEECHES.\nI.--THE POETIC PERIOD.\n\nThe rhyming prose in which the Kor\u0101n is written may be seen to best\nadvantage in this earliest phase of Mohammad\u2019s oratory, when the\nsentences are short and the rhythm more _chantant_ than in the later\nspeeches. \u201cThe Smiting\u201d (p. 7), will serve as a specimen of the sound\nof the original Arabic, as far as it can be represented in Roman\ncharacters:--\n\n _Bismi-llahi-r-rahm\u0101ni-r-rah\u012bm_\n _El-k\u0101ri'atu m\u0101-l-k\u0101ri'ah_\n _Wa-m\u0101 adr\u0101ka m\u0101-l-k\u0101ri'ah_\n _Yawma yek\u016bnu-n-n\u0101su ke-l-far\u0101si-l-mabth\u016bth_\n _Wa-tek\u016bnu-l-jib\u0101lu ke-l-'ihni-l-manf\u016bsh_\n _Fe-amma men thekulet maw\u0101z\u012bnuhu fe-huwa f\u012b '\u012bshetin r\u0101diyeh_\n _Wa-amma men khaffet maw\u0101z\u012bnuhu fe-ummuhu h\u0101wiyeh_\n _Wa-m\u0101 adr\u0101ka m\u0101 hiyeh_\n _N\u0101run h\u0101miyeh_\n\nThe effect of which may be thus roughly preserved in English:--\n\n In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.\n The Smiting! What is the Smiting?\n And what shall teach thee what is the Smiting?\n The Day when men shall be like moths adrift,\n And the hills shall be like wool-flocks rift:\n Then as for him whose scales are heavy, his shall be a life of\n bliss:\n And as for him whose scales are light, a place in the Pit is his:\n And what shall teach thee what that place is--\n A Fire that blazes!\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 3. THE NIGHT.--The formula \u201c_In the Name of God, the Compassionate,\nthe Merciful_,\u201d precedes all the chapters of the Kor\u0101n but one.\n_We._--God speaks in the plural in the Kor\u0101n.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 5. THE COUNTRY.--_The two highways_: the _steep one_ to heaven, and\nthe smooth one to hell.\n\nP. 6. _The people of the right hand_--those that receive the book\nof the record of their actions in their right hand--the blessed.\nContrariwise--_the people of the left hand_--the damned.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 7. THE SMITING.--One of many similar names for the Day of Judgment.\n_The Bottomless Pit_, \u201cEl-H\u0101wiyeh,\u201d is the lowest stage of the Hell of\nthe Kor\u0101n.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 8. THE QUAKING.--_Burdens_, _i.e._ the dead. _Her tidings_: \u201cThe\ntidings of the earth are these--she will bear witness to the actions of\nevery man and woman done upon her surface.\u201d--Tradition of Mohammad.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 9. THE RENDING ASUNDER.--_Reporters_: two angels who note\nrespectively the good and the evil deeds and words of every man.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 13. THE BACKBITER.--This speech is said to have been levelled at a\npersonal enemy.\n\n_Blasting Hell_, \u201cEl-Hutameh,\u201d is the third stage of the Mohammadan\nInferno.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 14. THE SPLENDOUR OF MORNING.--Evidently uttered in a time of\ndespondency and with the intention of self-encouragement.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 15. THE MOST HIGH.--_The books of eld._ Mohammad asserted that his\ndoctrine was a revival of the religion of Abraham and the patriarchs,\nas it was before the Jews corrupted it.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 17. THE WRAPPING.--A simile from the wrapping of a head in a turban.\n\n_Camels ten months_ gone with young were the Arabs\u2019 most valuable\nproperty.\n\n_The child that was buried alive._ Infanticide of female children was\namong the crimes of the ancient Arab.\n\n_The Books_--in which men\u2019s actions are recorded.\n\n_Stars that hide_, _i.e._ that set; or, as others say, \u201cthat\nretrogress,\u201d _i.e._ the planets.\n\nP. 18. _Mad._ The people commonly believed Mohammad to be possessed\nwith a jinni (or genius).\n\n_Pelted devil._ The evil jinn or devils are supposed to act the\neavesdropper on the confines of heaven, and to be driven away by\nshooting stars.\n\n_A reminder_, _scil._, of the true religion of Abraham and the\nprophets, which men had forgotten. Cf. LANE: _Selections from the\nKur-\u0101n_, lxxxi. 15, 47, 48 (2d ed., Tr\u00fcbner\u2019s Oriental Series).\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 19. THE NEWS.--One of the many names which Mohammad employed to\nbring home to his people the reality and fearfulness of the Last Day.\n\n_Tent-pegs._ Mountains were believed to keep the earth steady, as pegs\ndo a tent.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 22. THE FACT.--One of the names of the Last Day: the event which\nmust inevitably happen.\n\n_Abasing_ the sinners, and _exalting_ the righteous.\n\n_Three kinds_: the \u201coutstrippers,\u201d the \u201cpeople of the right hand,\u201d\nand the \u201cpeople of the left hand.\u201d In the original the same word means\n\u201cright hand\u201d and \u201chappiness,\u201d or \u201cgood omen;\u201d contrariwise, \u201cleft hand\u201d\nand \u201cmisfortune.\u201d Cp. the use of _dexter_ and _sinister_. An instance\nof Mohammad\u2019s practice of playing upon the different senses of a word.\n\n_The outstrippers_, _i.e._ those who are the first to adopt the true\nreligion--the prophets and apostles, who shall be rewarded by being\nallowed to stand nearest to God in the next world. The following\nfifteen lines describe their happy fate; after which, fourteen refer\nto the _people of the right hand_, or ordinary believers; and then\nseventeen lines to the _people of the left hand_, or damned.\n\nP. 24. _Zakk\u016bm_: A thorny tree with a bitter fruit, which grows up from\nthe bottomless pit.\n\nP. 26. _Preserved Book._--Mohammad taught that every \u201crevelation\u201d in\nthe Kor\u0101n was but a transcript from the pages of a great book, known as\nthe \u201c_Mother of the Book_,\u201d \u201cpreserved\u201d under the throne of God. The\nsentence, _Let none touch it but the purified_, is commonly inscribed\nupon the cover of the Kor\u0101n.\n\n_Those brought nearest_, _i.e._ the _outstrippers_, or prophets.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 27. THE MERCIFUL.--_Then which of the bounties_, etc. A refrain or\nburden of this kind is rare in the Kor\u0101n, and is in no other instance\nso often repeated. The _twain_ are mankind and the jinn (or genii).\n\u201cJinn,\u201d it may be remarked, is a plural, and the singular is \u201cjinni\u201d (a\ngenius), for the masculine, and \u201cjinn\u012byeh\u201d for the feminine.\n\n_The two Easts._ The rising-places of the sun in summer and winter;\n_the two Wests_, the corresponding setting-places.\n\nP. 28. _Two notables_, or \u201cweighty ones,\u201d _i.e._ men and jinn.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 32. THE UNITY.--This profession of faith is held by Muslims to be\nequal in value to a third of the whole Kor\u0101n.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 33. THE F\u0100TIHAH, or \u201cOpening\u201d chapter, so called because it is\nplaced at the beginning of the authorised arrangement of the Kor\u0101n. It\nis the _Paternoster_ of Islam, and is repeated many times in the five\ndaily prayers of the Muslims, and on every solemn occasion.\n\n\nTHE MEKKA SPEECHES.\nII.--THE RHETORICAL PERIOD.\n\nP. 39. THE KINGDOM. _Say_: _i.e._ God bids Mohammad say. It must never\nbe forgotten that Mohammad is only supposed to recite what God wrote in\nthe Preserved Book (see note to p. 26) before the world began.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 41. THE MOON.--_Sign_, _i.e._ miracle, which Mohammad insistently\ndeclared his inability to work.\n\n_The Summoner_: the archangel Isr\u0101f\u012bl.\n\n_Called it a lie_, _i.e._ denied the doctrine of one God and of a Day\nof Judgment.\n\nP. 42. _Ad_: an ancient Arab people, destroyed in prehistoric days. See\nLANE: _Selections from the Kur-\u0101n_, 60-62.\n\n_Tham\u016bd_: another tribe, which experienced a similar fate. See LANE,\n_ibid._\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 45. K.--As to the meaning of this letter of the Arabic alphabet,\nwhich gives a title to this speech, in the words of the Muslim\ncommentator, \u201cGod alone knoweth what He meaneth by it.\u201d\n\n_A warner from among themselves._ The Mekkans were offended that an\nangel was not sent to them as an apostle, instead of a mere man.\n\n_Marvellous thing_: the Resurrection.\n\nP. 46. _The people of Tubba'_: the Himyarites of Arabia Felix.\n\n_A driver and a witness._--Two angels, who are supposed to carry on the\nensuing colloquy with God.\n\nP. 48. _A tyrant._--Mohammad was sent to warn, not to compel the\nobedience and faith of his people.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 49. Y. S.--See note to K above, and to p. 87 below.\n\nP. 50. _Plain Exemplar_: the _Preserved Book_, mentioned above (note to\np. 26).\n\nP. 51. _Enter into Paradise_: the people had stoned him to death.\n\nP. 52. _Her resting-place._--The sun is feminine in Arabic, and the\nmoon masculine.\n\nP. 55. _Poetry._--It was a common charge against Mohammad that he was a\nmad poet.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 57. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, otherwise called THE NIGHT JOURNEY,\nfrom the reference in the first verse to a dream in which Mohammad saw\nhimself carried from the Kaaba (the _Sacred Mosque_) at Mekka, to the\nTemple (the _Furthest Mosque_) at Jerusalem; upon which Mohammadan\ntheologians have raised a noble superstructure of fable. The first\nverse is probably later than the rest. The _two sins_ and punishments\nof the Jews have also greatly exercised the commentators\u2019 minds. What\nthey were Mohammad probably did not very precisely know himself.\n\nP. 60. _The son of the road_, _i.e._ the traveller.\n\nP. 61. _A just cause_: apostacy, adultery, or murder.\n\nP. 62. _Daughters from among the angels._--The Arabs worshipped the\nangels and jinn as daughters of God; and it is against this polytheism\nand blasphemous relationship that Mohammad protests, whilst he never\ndenies but contrariwise admits the existence of such spirits. Further\non (p. 64) he refers to these angels and other Arabian divinities, as\nbeings who are not to be invoked, since they can have no influence for\ngood or ill, and who themselves are in hope and fear of God\u2019s mercy and\ntorment, like human beings. It should be noticed that hitherto Mohammad\nhas directed his preaching against disbelief in the One God, but has\nnot pointedly attacked the idolatry of the Mekkans. In Y. S., however,\nhe begins to speak of _other gods_ (p. 55), and in the Third or\nArgumentative Period, the angels and jinn which the Mekkans worshipped,\nand represented in the shape of idols, are frequently denounced,\nespecially under the name of _Partners_ (see pp. 76, 84, 90, 92, 93,\n97, 98, 103, 106, etc.)\n\nP. 65. _The accursed tree_: Zakk\u016bm, see note to p. 24. The full Koranic\nhistory of Adam and Eve, and how Ibl\u012bs, the father of the devils,\nrefused to do homage to the father of mankind, may be read in LANE\u2019S\n_Selections_, pp. 49-52.\n\nP. 67. _Well-nigh tempted_: referring apparently to an inclination of\nMohammad to temporize with idolatry on a special occasion.\n\nP. 68. _The Spirit_: Gabriel, the teacher of Mohammad, and the bearer\nof revelations from God to His prophet.\n\nP. 71. _Call upon God, or call upon the Merciful._--Mohammad\u2019s use of\ntwo general names for God had apparently caused some confusion among\nthe faithful, which this verse removed.\n\nThe \u201cChildren of Israel\u201d speech is especially important, since it\ncontains more definite regulations of conduct than any other of the\norations delivered at Mekka.\n\n\nTHE MEKKA SPEECHES.\nIII.--THE ARGUMENTATIVE PERIOD.\n\nP. 76. THE BELIEVER. _Twice hast thou given us death_, etc.--Referring\nto the absence of life before birth, and the deprivation of it at\ndeath, and to the being quickened at birth, and raised again after\ndeath.\n\nP. 78. _Their footprints_, or vestiges: _i.e._ their buildings and\npublic works.\n\n_Moses._ For the Koranic history of the Israelites, see LANE\u2019S\n_Selections_, pp. 97-131.\n\nP. 84. _I am bidden to resign myself_: _i.e._ I am bidden to become a\nMuslim, for _Muslim_ (Moslem or Musulman) means \u201cone who is resigned,\u201d\nand _Isl\u0101m_, belonging to the same root, signifies \u201cresignation,\u201d or\n\u201cself-surrender.\u201d This is the correct name of the religion taught by\nthe Arabian prophet, who would have regarded the epithet \u201cMohammadan,\u201d\nas applied to the creed, or the professor thereof, as nothing short of\nblasphemy.\n\n * * * * *\n\nJONAH. P. 87. A. L. R.--Letters the import of which is as mysterious as\nK. and Y. S. before, and A. L. M. R. afterwards. N\u00f6ldeke believes them\nto be abbreviations of the names of the first reporters of the speeches.\n\nP. 89. _I had dwelt a lifetime_: _i.e._ I should not have waited till I\nwas forty before I began preaching, if I was the designing impostor you\ntake me for.\n\nP. 90. _Ye are in ships--and they run with them._--The reader must have\nobserved that sudden transitions from the second to the third person,\nand from the singular to the plural, are very common in the Kor\u0101n.\nThey may perhaps be regarded as convincing evidence of the fidelity of\nMohammad\u2019s reporters.\n\nP. 97. _God hath taken Him a son_: referring to the Christian doctrine.\n\nP. 100. _Kibla_: The point towards which prayer must be said. See p.\n134.\n\nP. 101. _Now!_--The angel Gabriel is credited with this taunt.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHUNDER. P. 104. A. L. M. R.--Mystic letters as above; perhaps for\nAL-MogheyReh, as the first reporter of this particular speech.\n\nP. 106. _Patrons_, _i.e._ Idols.\n\nP. 108. _Join what God hath bidden to be joined_: _i.e._ believe in the\nwhole series of prophets, and join good works to faith.\n\nP. 111. _Mother of the Book._--The Preserved Book mentioned before in\nTHE FACT (see note to p. 26).\n\n\nTHE MEDINA SPEECHES.\nTHE PERIOD OF HARANGUE.\n\nDECEPTION. P. 117. _Obey God and obey the Apostle._--This is a\nsure indication of the Medina origin of at least this verse, for\nthe self-importance of the phrase would have been inappropriate in\nMohammad\u2019s weak and insignificant position at Mekka. (The speech is,\nhowever, by some ascribed to the Mekka division.) Further on the\nwords _Believe in God and His Apostle_ (in IRON, p. 118), and _They\nwho swear fealty to thee do but swear fealty to God_ (in VICTORY, p.\n125), indicate the same spirit of self-exaltation which began with the\nprophet\u2019s prosperity at Medina.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIRON. P. 119. _Manifest signs_: the revelations contained in the Kor\u0101n.\n\nP. 122. _It is written in the Book_: _i.e._ Every event is set down in\nthe Preserved Book before the event itself is created.\n\n_God is rich_: _i.e._ He has no need of your grudging alms.\n\n * * * * *\n\nVICTORY. P. 124.--The victory in question was probably the peaceful\nbut real triumph of the Truce of Hudeybia, in A.H. 6; though some\ncommentators prefer to regard the speech as prophetical of the conquest\nof Mekka two years later.\n\nP. 125. _The Arabs of the desert who were left behind_ were certain\ntribes who held aloof from the pilgrimage towards Mekka, which ended\nin the Truce of Hudeybia. Mohammad punished them by refusing to allow\nthem to share in the booty which soon after fell to the faithful in the\nKhaibar expedition; hence the reference on p. 126.\n\nP. 128. _In the valley of Mekka_: referring to the Truce of Hudeybia.\n_Kept you away from the Sacred Mosque_: the Koreysh refused to allow\nMohammad and his followers to enter Mekka or perform the pilgrimage;\nwhereupon the truce was concluded, by which the pilgrimage was to take\nplace (_Ye shall surely enter the Sacred Mosque_) in the following year\n(see Introduction, p. xlv.)\n\nP. 129. _Traces_: _i.e._ dust from touching the ground.\n\n * * * * *\n\nP. 130. HELP.--Revealed after the conquest of Mekka, and shortly before\nMohammad\u2019s death, and believed to have given him warning of it.\n\n\nTHE LAW GIVEN AT MEDINA.\n\nThe forty paragraphs arranged on pp. 133-144, contain, it is believed,\nall the definite ordinances of Mohammad as set forth in the Medina\nspeeches, with the exception of some regulations relating to women. The\nbulk of the Medina speeches are indeed rather collections of separate\ndecisions or \u201crulings\u201d put together for convenience of reference by\nthe Muslims themselves than separate and complete orations. But as\nthe practical teaching is interspersed with frequent and verbose\nprophetical legends of the kind with which the reader is already\nperhaps only too familiar and with animadversions on the political\nparties of Medina, and similar ephemeral matters, it has been thought\nbest to extract the marrow of these lengthy and composite harangues,\nand place them in some sort of connected order. Chapter II., for\ninstance, \u201cThe Cow,\u201d contains 286 verses; the first half is filled with\nthe usual arguments and illustrations, and the old stories about Adam\nand Moses; whilst the second half contains a certain number of laws\nand precepts mixed with many repetitions of the proofs and appeals to\nreason which occur in most of the preceding speeches: altogether, 29\nverses out of 286 are needed for the purpose of showing what Mohammad\nactually prescribed in civil and religious law. For an account of the\nmodern interpretation of this law, see LANE\u2019S _Modern Egyptians_,\n5th ed. Ch. III.; SELL\u2019S _Faith of Islam_; and HUGHES\u2019 _Notes on\nMohammadanism_, 2d ed. 1877.\n\nP. 134. _Observe the prayer, and the middle prayer._ It is not easy to\nmake out the five daily prayers of Islam in the Kor\u0101n. In the speech\nentitled \u201cH\u016bd\u201d (Mekka, Third Period, xi. 116) it is enjoined: \u201cObserve\nprayer at two ends of the day, and at two parts of the night\u201d; and\nagain, in \u201cT. H.\u201d (xx. 130), the praises of God are to be celebrated\n\u201cbefore the rising of the sun and before its setting, and at times\nof the night and at the ends of the day\u201d; and in \u201cThe Greeks\u201d (xxx.\n17) praise is ordained \u201cin the evening and in the morning, and at\nthe evening and at noon.\u201d The Muslim commentators differ as to the\napplication of these injunctions to the five times of prayer recognized\nthroughout the Mohammadan world; which are (1) just after sunset, (2)\nat nightfall, (3) at daybreak, (4) just after noon, and (5) in the\nmiddle of the afternoon.\n\n_Turn thy face towards the Sacred Mosque_: _i.e._ towards the Kaaba of\nMekka. Originally Mohammad placed the Kibla, or direction of prayer,\nat Jerusalem; but after his disagreement with the Jews of Medina he\nreverted to the old Mekkan temple as the focus of Isl\u0101m.\n\nP. 135. It is enacted (ii. 183) that the fast is to be observed from\nthe time when you can distinguish a white thread from a black thread in\nthe morning, till night; but from nightfall till dawn the Muslim may\neat and drink and enjoy himself.\n\nP. 136. _Make mention of God\u2019s name over the beasts_: _i.e._ Sacrifice\nthem, saying, \u201cIn the name of God.\u201d\n\nP. 140. The Kor\u0101n contains a list of prohibited degrees (\u201cWomen,\u201d\niv. 26, 27), which comprises mothers and stepmothers, daughters,\nsisters, aunts, nieces, fostermothers, fostersisters, mothers-in-law,\nstepdaughters, daughters-in-law, and two sisters, and other men\u2019s wives.\n\nP. 142. _Keep the women in houses._ Immuring was afterwards changed to\nstoning both the man and the woman.\n\n\nTABLE-TALK OF MOHAMMAD.\n\nP. 147. _Retaliation is equal._--It is worth noticing, that while sin\nis requited with equal punishment or with forgiveness, good deeds are\nrewarded tenfold.\n\nP. 150. _Rising or setting of the sun._--The exact moment was\nforbidden, for fear of even the suspicion of sun-worship.\n\nP. 164. It is recorded of the prophet, that when, being on a journey,\nhe alighted at any place, he did not say his prayers until he had\nunsaddled his camel.\n\n\nINDEX OF CHAPTERS OF THE KOR\u0100N TRANSLATED IN THIS VOLUME.\n\n i. The F\u0101tihah, p. 33.\n x. Jonah, 87.\n xiii. The Thunder, 104.\n xvii. The Children of Israel, 57.\n xxxvi. Y. S., 49.\n xl. The Believer, 75.\n xlviii. The Victory, 124.\n l. K., 45.\n liv. The Moon, 41.\n lv. The Merciful, 27.\n lvi. The Fact, 22.\n lvii. Iron, 118.\n lxiv. Deception, 115.\n lxvii. The Kingdom, 37.\n lxxviii. The News, 19.\n lxxxi. The Wrapping, 17.\n lxxxii. The Rending Asunder, 9.\n lxxxvii. The Most High, 15.\n xc. The Country, 5.\n xcii. The Night, 3.\n xciii. The Splendour of Morning, 14.\n xcix. The Quaking, 8.\n c. The Chargers, 11.\n ci. The Smiting, 7.\n civ. The Backbiter, 13.\n cvii. Support, 12.\n cx. Help, 130.\n cxii. The Unity, 32.\n\n\nPORTIONS OF CHAPTERS, pp. 133-144.\n\n ii. The Cow, 133-144.\n iii. The Family of Imr\u0101n, 133.\n iv. Women, 139, 140, 142-144.\n v. The Table, 138,140.\n ix. Immunity, 136, 144.\n xxii. The Pilgrimage, 136.\n xxiv. The Light, 140, 141, 144.\n lxii. The Congregation, 134.\n\n THE END.\n\n _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh_.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOLDEN TREASURY SERIES.\n\n\nUniformly printed in 18mo, with Vignette Titles by J. E. MILLAIS, T.\nWOOLNER, W. HOLMAN HUNT, SIR NOEL PATON, ARTHUR HUGHES, &c. Engraved\non Steel by JEENS. Bound in extra cloth, 4_s._ 6_d._ each volume. Also\nkept in morocco and calf bindings.\n\n \u201cMessrs. Macmillan have, in their Golden Treasury Series,\n especially provided editions of standard works, volumes of\n selected poetry, and original compositions, which entitle this\n series to be called classical. Nothing can be better than the\n literary execution, nothing more elegant than the material\n workmanship.\u201d--BRITISH QUARTERLY REVIEW.\n\n THE GOLDEN TREASURY OF THE BEST SONGS AND LYRICAL POEMS IN THE\n ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Selected and arranged, with Notes, by FRANCIS\n TURNER PALGRAVE.\n\n THE CHILDREN\u2019S GARLAND FROM THE BEST POETS. Selected and arranged by\n COVENTRY PATMORE.\n\n THE BOOK OF PRAISE. From the best English Hymn Writers. Selected and\n arranged by LORD SELBORNE. _A New and Enlarged Edition._\n\n THE FAIRY BOOK; the Best Popular Fairy Stories. Selected and rendered\n anew by the Author of \u201cJOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN.\u201d\n\n \u201cA delightful selection, in a delightful external form; full\n of the physical splendour and vast opulence of proper fairy\n tales.\u201d--SPECTATOR.\n\n THE BALLAD BOOK. A Selection of the Choicest British Ballads. Edited\n by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM.\n\n THE JEST BOOK. The Choicest Anecdotes and Sayings. Selected and\n arranged by MARK LEMON.\n\n \u201cThe fullest and best jest book that has yet appeared.\u201d--SATURDAY\n REVIEW.\n\n BACON\u2019S ESSAYS AND COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL. With Notes and\n Glossarial Index by W. ALDIS WRIGHT, M.A.\n\n \u201cThe beautiful little edition of Bacon\u2019s Essays, now before\n us, does credit to the taste and scholarship of Mr. Aldis\n Wright.\u201d--SPECTATOR.\n\n THE PILGRIM\u2019S PROGRESS from this World to that which is to come. By\n JOHN BUNYAN.\n\n \u201cA beautiful and scholarly reprint.\u201d--SPECTATOR.\n\n THE SUNDAY BOOK OF POETRY FOR THE YOUNG. Selected and arranged by C.\n F. ALEXANDER.\n\n \u201cA well-selected volume of sacred poetry.\u201d--SPECTATOR.\n\n A BOOK OF GOLDEN DEEDS of All Times and All Countries. Gathered and\n Narrated Anew by the Author of \u201cTHE HEIR OF REDCLYFFE.\u201d\n\n \u201c...To the young, for whom it is especially intended, as a most\n interesting collection of thrilling tales well told; and to their\n elders as a useful handbook of reference, and a pleasant one to\n take up when their wish is to while away a weary half-hour. We have\n seen no prettier gift-book for a long time.\u201d--ATHEN\u00c6UM.\n\n THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE. Edited, from the Original Edition,\n by J. W. CLARK, M.A., Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.\n\n THE REPUBLIC OF PLATO, TRANSLATED into ENGLISH, with Notes by J. LL.\n DAVIES, M.A., and D. J. VAUGHAN, M.A.\n\n \u201cA dainty and cheap little edition.\u201d--EXAMINER.\n\n THE SONG BOOK. Words and Tunes from the best Poets and Musicians.\n Selected and arranged by JOHN HULLAH, Professor of Vocal Music in\n King\u2019s College, London.\n\n \u201cA choice collection of the sterling songs of England, Scotland,\n and Ireland, with the music of each prefixed to the words. How much\n true wholesome pleasure such a book can diffuse, and will diffuse,\n we trust, through many thousand families.\u201d--EXAMINER.\n\n LA LYRE FRANCAISE. Selected and arranged, with Notes, by GUSTAVE\n MASSON, French Master in Harrow School.\n\n \u201cWe doubt whether even in France itself so interesting and complete\n a repertory of the best French Lyrics could be found.\u201d--NOTES AND\n QUERIES.\n\n TOM BROWN\u2019S SCHOOL DAYS. By AN OLD BOY.\n\n \u201cA perfect gem of a book. The best and most healthy book about boys\n for boys that ever was written.\u201d--ILLUSTRATED TIMES.\n\n A BOOK OF WORTHIES. Gathered from the Old Histories and written anew\n by the Author of \u201cTHE HEIR OF REDCLYFFE.\u201d\n\n \u201cAn admirable addition to an admirable series.\u201d--WESTMINSTER REVIEW.\n\n A BOOK OF GOLDEN THOUGHTS. By HENRY ATTWELL, Knight of the Order of\n the Oak Crown.\n\n \u201cMr. Attwell has produced a work of rare value.... Happily it is\n small enough to be carried about in the pocket, and of such a\n companion it would be difficult to weary.\u201d--PALL MALL GAZETTE.\n\n GUESSES AT TRUTH. By TWO BROTHERS. _New Edition._\n\n THE CAVALIER AND HIS LADY. Selections from the Works of the First\n Duke and Duchess of Newcastle. With an Introductory Essay by EDWARD\n JENKINS, M.P., Author of \u201cGinx\u2019s Baby,\u201d &c.\n\n \u201cA charming little volume.\u201d--STANDARD.\n\n THEOLOGIA GERMANICA. Edited by Dr. PFEIFFER, from the only complete\n Manuscript yet known. Translated from the German by SUSANNA\n WINKWORTH. With a Preface by the Rev. Charles Kingsley, and a\n Letter to the Translator by the Chevalier Bunsen, D.D.\n\n SCOTCH SONG, A Selection of the Choicest Lyrics of Scotland. Compiled\n and arranged, with brief Notes, by MARY CARLYLE AITKIN.\n\n \u201cThe book is one that should find a place in every library, we had\n almost said in every pocket.\u201d--SPECTATOR.\n\n DEUTSCHE LYRIK: The Golden Treasury of the Best German Lyrical Poems.\n Selected and arranged, with Notes and Literary Introduction, by Dr.\n BUCHHEIM.\n\n \u201cA book which all lovers of German poetry will\n welcome.\u201d--WESTMINSTER REVIEW.\n\n HERRICK: Selections from the Lyrical Poems. Arranged, with Notes, by\n F. T. PALGRAVE.\n\n \u201cFor the first time the sweetest of English pastoral poets is\n placed within the range of the great world of readers.\u201d--ACADEMY.\n\n POEMS OF PLACES. Edited by H. W. LONGFELLOW. England and Wales. Two\n Vols.\n\n \u201cA very happy idea, thoroughly worked out by an editor who\n possesses every qualification for the task.\u201d--SPECTATOR.\n\n MATTHEW ARNOLD\u2019S SELECTED POEMS (Also a Large Paper Edition, Crown\n 8vo, 12_s._ 6_d._)\n\n \u201cA volume which is a thing of beauty in itself.\u201d--PALL MALL GAZETTE.\n\n THE STORY OF THE CHRISTIANS AND MOORS IN SPAIN. By C. M. YONGE,\n Author of \u201cThe Heir of Redclyffe.\u201d With Vignette by HOLMAN HUNT.\n\n \u201cThis volume will prove a very attractive one.\u201d--JOHN BULL.\n\n LAMB\u2019S TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE. Edited by the Rev. A. AINGER. M.A.,\n Reader at the Temple.\n\n \u201cMr. Ainger\u2019s introduction is excellent.\u201d--SPECTATOR.\n\n POEMS OF WORDSWORTH. Chosen and edited, with Preface, by MATTHEW\n ARNOLD. (Also a Large Paper Edition, Crown 8vo, 9_s._)\n\n \u201cThe selection is almost faultless.\u201d--SATURDAY REVIEW.\n\n SHAKESPEARE\u2019S SONNETS. Edited by F. T. PALGRAVE.\n\n POEMS FROM SHELLEY. Selected and arranged by STOPFORD A. BROOKE, M.A.\n (Also a Large Paper Edition, Crown 8vo, 12_s._ 6_d._)\n\n \u201cFull of power and true appreciation of Shelley\u2019s\n poetry.\u201d--SPECTATOR.\n\n ESSAYS OF JOSEPH ADDISON. Chosen and edited by JOHN RICHARD GREEN,\n M.A., LL.D.\n\n \u201cThis is a most welcome addition to a most excellent\n series.\u201d--EXAMINER.\n\n SELECTIONS FROM BYRON. Chosen and arranged by MATTHEW ARNOLD. (Also a\n Large Paper Edition, Crown 8vo, 9_s._)\n\n \u201cIt is written in Mr. Arnold\u2019s neatest vein and in Mr. Arnold\u2019s\n most pellucid manner.\u201d--ATHEN\u00c6UM.\n\n SIR THOMAS BROWNE\u2019S RELIGIO MEDICI; Letter to a Friend, &c., and\n Christian Morals. Edited by W. A. GREENHILL, M.D., Oxon.\n\n \u201cDr. Greenhill\u2019s annotations display care and research to a degree\n rare among English editors.\u201d--ATHEN\u00c6UM.\n\n\n MACMILLAN & CO., LONDON.\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTE\n\n\nThis book was written with many words which are archaic or obsolete by\ntoday's standards. However, all such words (other than transliterations\nof Arabic) are listed in O.E.D., and have been maintained in this\nbook as they were in the original. The only changes to the text were\ninserting omitted section and chapter titles in the Analytical Table\nof Contents and in the Notes chapter, and correcting such titles in\nthose two locations when they did not match the corresponding titles\nelsewhere in the text.\n\nThe line _In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful_ is used\nas an introduction or prolog to all the chapters of the Koran, with\ntwo exceptions: This line does not appear at the beginning of chapter\nix. (which does not appear in this book). And in the case of the first\nchapter, Fatihah (which does appear in this book), this line is part\nof the poetry, not a prolog or introduction. I have left the line in\nthe book at the beginning of Fatihah separated from the rest of the\nchapter because that is the way it appeared in the original text. This\nrepresentation is incorrect, there should be no break from the rest of\nthe chapter.","title":"The Speeches & Table-Talk of the Prophet Mohammad","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":48584}